


Rainy Encounters Never Lead to Anything Good

by MurayamaTsuru



Category: Gintama
Genre: Gen, Hijikata's Bad Smoking Habits, Humor, OOC (probably), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Power Outage, Temporary Amnesia, canon adjacent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:33:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26071954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MurayamaTsuru/pseuds/MurayamaTsuru
Summary: After a trip to the grocery store, Gintoki finds Kamui, bleeding and unconscious, outside the Yorozuya. So he decides to take care of him. What could possibly go wrong...?
Comments: 5
Kudos: 60





	1. Ran Can Really Bring You Down

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first over longfic that I started wrote back in June 2012!  
> I wrote this first chapter in a bookstore, and I remember being super nervous writing it.  
> You ready for my terrible chapter titles??  
> Also, how do I tag? FFN barely had any tagging system at all, and now I have to tag everything? I'm sure I'll get better with time, but it there is only confusion right now...

Today was turning out rather exciting for Kamui. Well, the beginning certainly hadn’t been very fun (but that was nothing unusual). Kamui had been woken up at 5 AM from his usual nightmares. He had thrashed around for a while, hoping to go back to asleep, but to no avail. His stomach decided to let him know that sleep was overrated and food was the way to go by rumbling very loudly. With a sigh, Kamui stood up and stretched, feeling his muscles crack from a night of disuse. Usual smile back in place, he meandered his way to the kitchen to see what would take the least effort to eat.

There was no need to think about breakfast though, for when he arrived at the kitchen, he saw that Abuto was already there eating a bowl of rice porridge and reading the paper. Before Kamui could ask, Abuto gestured to the seat next to him and Kamui’s grin grew when he saw the extra-large bowl. It was nice to know that Abuto’s Kamui sensor was in full working order.

After breakfast (with seconds and thirds, of course) Abuto handed Kamui their daily orders. It contained details about a certain organization that the Harusame 7th Squad were to “investigate”. They were apparently plotting something, so it was time for the kind of stern warning that only a group of Yato could give. When Kamui was finished reading, he grinned at Abuto, today was looking up already “So, should we flip a coin for who gets to wake the rest of the crew?”

Abuto shook his head and chuckled, “Wouldn’t dream of getting in the way of your fun, admiral.” Kamui then got up, laughing all the way to his first victim’s room.

Once the crew were awake, Abuto briefed them on the day’s activities (with Kamui smiling menacingly in the background), they all set out for Edo. Since they were already on earth for a separate mission, their destination was quite close (in Kabukicho to be exact). On the way, Kamui got to thinking about Kagura. There was almost no chance that she would become involved, but even so, there was small part of him (a part that he thought he had buried) that almost dreaded encountering her and those other two. The organization they were to destroy was apparently some major electric company in Edo, so if word got out about their mission, the Yorozuya trio were sure to be there (because that’s what the Yorozuya did, right?). But when they arrived, Kagura was quickly banished from Kamui’s thoughts, the idea of a fight much fun for depressing thoughts about his sister.

The 7th Squad encountered weak resistance as they broke into the building, and Kamui quickly grew tired of fighting boring opponents. Where was the challenge in this? He may as well have just stayed on the ship. When they had reached the CEOs office, they learned that the important people had evacuated to a nearby warehouse. As the 7th squad were about to leave, an alarm went off and the doors and windows started shutter closed as some kind of security measure (or a trap). Abuto rolled his eyes and sighed, pushing Kamui out the door before it closed. Kamui’s eyebrows furrowed, “We can take care of ourselves.” Abuto said, “You need to go to that warehouse. Now.” The door shuttered, leaving Kamui to stare at a closed door. There didn’t seem to be any point in staying, after all Abuto and the rest of the 7th really could take care of themselves.

Kamui arrived at the warehouse alone, where he was greeted by many guards. As they closed in on him, a feral smile slowly spread across his face. He would get to lose himself in a fight after all. Now the fun could truly begin. With the first shot of his umbrella gun, all memories of that morning’s nightmares faded into the distance.

Until someone whacked him in the head with a round, flat object. Kamui’s eyes widened as his braid flew in front of his face and he stumbled a step. After checking back of his head to check for damage (his fingers came back slightly red and sticky), he landed a hard kick to the face who the person who attacked him. Kamui had kicked hard enough that his attacker’s face caved in, a bloody smear on the ground(suitable revenge as Kamui saw it). Kamui picked up the object, a cast-iron skillet as it turned out. Kamui laughed, this would make an interesting story when he was back on the ship. Kamui then proceeded to use the skillet himself, it made a great shield to deflect the arrows of the archers that had suddenly appeared. But was not a perfect and Kamui felt a faint sting as an arrow nicked his shoulder

After some more intense fighting, Kamui felt a strange pulse from the cut on his shoulder. Next thing he knew, he found himself face to face with the floor. He tried to stand, but his body would not listen and he could only lie limply on the floor as an arrogant voice yelled “The poison’s finally taken affect. Do it now!” Someone kicked the skillet out of his hand he felt something pierce into the flesh of his leg. His body was assaulted with a burning-shocking sensation and all he could do was groan silently. The sensation stopped and Kamui felt numb. The arrogant from earlier snapped, “This should teach those Harusame idiots not to mess with us.”

Kamui heard the person and all the guards that weren’t dead leave, the warehouse growing silent. Kamui lay on the floor, immobile, staring with glassy eyes at a speck on the floor. Eventually, sensation returned to Kamui’s arms and legs. He pushed himself up, wincing at the pins and needles that shot up his legs. He picked up his umbrella, wincing again and almost dropping it as the same sensation rippled through his fingers as well. Kamui stood as steadily as he could and staggered out of the warehouse. There was no trace of the CEO, so Kamui started wandering haltingly in a random direction. It had started to rain and Kamui barely had enough energy to open his umbrella up.

Soon, Kamui began to shiver violently and his vision was starting to blur at the edges. Both the rain and the poison made it nearly impossible to tell where he was going. But the streets he was stumbling along seemed vaguely familiar. He entered an alley and tripped over a stack of something, finding himself kissing the ground for the second time that day. He wanted to kick out at it in revenge but was too weak to move, so he glared at it instead.

After losing his glaring match with a stack of...magazines (he could hardly see anymore), Kamui crawled over to a wall and slumped against it. He looked up at the vague outline of a building for some indication as to where he was. He saw a sign that said 万事屋銀ちゃん, and he could almost get the meaning, but his poison addled brain wouldn’t let him. Kamui felt frustrated as he slipped into unconsciousness, why was that sign so familiar?

* * *

Sakata Gintoki practically skipping back to his apartment, several grocery bags in hand, because he had finally managed to get his hands on some strawberry milk. For a week, he had been forced to drink the raspberry milk that Shinpachi had brought home (something about how it wasn’t good to waste food). But now that he had his strawberry milk, not even the rain could dampen his mood.

As he was about to ascend the stairs to his house, he saw an all-too-familiar purple umbrella in the alley. Gin’s first thought was to ignore it, Kagura was just out playing in the rain again (as they say, kids like rain, storms, and typhoons, after all). But Kagura didn’t respond when he called out. Gin put his milk on the stairs and walked over to the umbrella ready to say something snarky, “Oi, Ka—“

That was definitely not Kagura lying unconscious in the alley beside his house. Gin almost hadn’t recognized Kamui, he looked so much younger when he was asleep. What was he doing here? And why was Shonen Jump lying in a heap next to him?

Gin poked Kamui with his boot, making sure it wasn’t an ambush of some sort (not that lying out in the open was a very good trap). But when he didn’t move, Gin sighed in relief, glad that this wasn’t a fight waiting to happen. He wasn’t sure why or how Kamui got there, but now that Gin got a better look, he didn’t look good. The red-haired teenager was covered in cuts and there was a rather scary-looking gash on his shoulder that was swollen, shiny, and seeping puss.

Gin looked around quickly, and seeing none Kamui’s comrades (or Takasugi for that matter), made the (not terrible at all) decision to bring Kamui up to the Yorozuya. Closing Kamui’s umbrella and putting it in his belt, he stooped down and picked the red-haired teenager up. Gin sucked in a breath when he felt how cold Kamui was. Gin was even more worried at how faint Kamui’s pulse. Certain in his decision, Gin murmured, “I’m going to get such a scolding from your sister for this.” Gin then picked up his strawberry milk and ascended the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is that ^~^  
> Because I cannot make anything truly stand alone, I referenced that other story posted earlier (Gin-chan and the Quest for Strawberry Milk).  
> Hope you guys liked the first chapter enough to stick around and read the rest!  
> See you next chapter!


	2. Poison Really Sucks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back!  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!  
> ...cuz I sure didn't enjoy rewriting it...

Kagura sat on the couch, looking out at the steady rain. Ketsuno Ana’s weather prediction was wrong today, maybe someone was cursing her again. Normally, Kagura liked the rain, the sound soothed her like almost nothing else could (as Gin-chan always says; kids like thunderstorms and typhoons). Today, though, the didn’t bring her peace as it usually did, and Kagura couldn’t quite put her finger on why. It was probably just because Gin-chan hadn’t come back from the store yet. It usually only took him twenty minutes, but he was five minutes (and counting) late. Kagura lolled her head to the side, giving Shinpachi her best pitiful stare, “Gin-chan’s late, Shinpachi! Where is he, uh-huh?”

Shinpachi sighed, Kagura had been doing this every minute on the minute for the last five minutes (couldn’t she just be a little bit patient for once?). Shinpachi sighed again, he wasn’t sure he could take much more of Kagura’s whining, but he answered like he did the other four times, “There was probably just a line. He’ll be back soon.”

“You’re wrong Shinpachi! Gin-chan never waits in line, uh-huh!”

“What are you talking about? He’s been plenty of lines before.”

“And he’s never had to wait in any of them, uh-huh! Remember the Oedo Dome?”

Shinpachi couldn’t help but grin at the memory. The Yorozuya trio had gone to the Oedo Dome for a Rakugo performance (quite the popular thing in Edo). The line had been super long and after a few minutes, Kagura started complaining. Gin had then used every irritating method he could (sob-stories, guilt-trips, threats, just being flat out annoying) to wheedle his way to the front of the line. In a matter of minutes, it worked and they were first in line to enter. Shinpachi had so wanted to reprimand Gin-san for his underhanded ways. But knowing Gin-san, Shinpachi would have been sent back to their previous spot if he uttered even a word of complaint.

Shinpachi was brought out of the memory by a loud thump at the door. He looked over at Kagura to see if she would answer the door for once. Kagura, however, had gone back to looking at the rain pitter-pattering against the window (quite studiously, Shinpachi might add). Shinpachi heard another thump and sighed again. It was probably just Gin-san kicking the door because his hands were full (didn’t he know they didn’t have money for another door repair). Shinpachi never understood why he couldn’t put the bags down so he could open the door. ‘But, that’s Gin-san for you’ Shinpachi thought as he walked over to the door calling out “I’m coming, I’m coming. Just be patient Gin-san.” The only response being another loud thump

Shinpachi opened the door to a drenched Gin-san with several heavy looking grocery bags in one hand, foot poised the kick the door again, and Kagura’s scary older brother slung over his shoulder. Wait…why was Kamui slung over Gin-san’s shoulder? And why did he look so sick? What the hell was going on? Shinpachi met Gin-san’s eyes, ready to voice his concerns, but was silenced by the look on his sort of boss’s face. His eyebrows were furrowed and his mouth twisted into a grimace (although that could be because of the grocery bags clutched in one white-knuckled hand).

Shinpachi opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but before he, could Gin yelled “Kagura, I need you to gather the extra blankets. We have an unexpected guest staying with us for a while.”

Shinpachi heard Kagura get up and head over to the closet,, “Shouldn’t we tell her it’s her brother?” he whispered

Gin-san gave Shinpachi a look “She’ll find out soon enough. Now, put my strawberry milk away for me then go help Kagura.” Shinpachi nodded, taking the bags from Gin’s sore hand.

As Gin watched Shinpachi’s retreating form, he sighed deeply. It had been such a pain carrying Kamui up all those stairs; he was a lot heavier than he looked. “Just a little farther now.” Gin murmured as he made his was inside.

When Gin arrived at the couch, he gently laid Kamui onto it. The kid was looking a lot worse than he had been when Gin first found him. Gin wasn’t actually sure what the plan was now, he was sure they didn’t have the tools to take care of him. His own first-aid skills were rusty at best (it had been a long time since the war, and Gin was no medic).

As Gin was considering their options, he heard a gasp and a soft plop. He turned to see a wide-eyed Kagura and Shinpachi hastily crouching to pick up the blankets she had dropped. “Aniki…” Kagura whispered.

Before Gin could explain, Kagura rushed past him, skidding to a halt by the couch. They were all quiet for a while as Kagura looked at her brother. Gin then said quietly “Kagura, I know you’re probably angry at me. But I…didn’t know to explain this…”

“I’m not mad at you, Gin-chan.” Kagura sniffed, trying to discretely rub at her eyes, “Why is Aniki even here though, uh-huh? I thought he was in space becoming King of the Pirates or whatever…”

“No, Kagura…that’s Luffy…I don’t know how he got here, but he clearly need help.”

Gin turned to Shinpachi, it was hard seeing Kagura so close to tears, “Shinpachi, I think we should call a doctor. I don’t know anything else we can do at this point.”

Shinpachi nodded and went over to the phone. Before he could dial a single number, Kagura slammed into him, bodily pushing him away from the phone, “NO DOCTORS!”

“Kagura-chan,” Shinpachi groaned, sitting up gingerly from his new spot on the floor, “he clearly needs a doctor! There’s no way for us to care for him here!”

“Aniki’s a wanted criminal, though, isn’t he? He really is trying to become King of the Pirates, uh-huh! What if the doctor you call just turns him in to the Shinsengumi?”

When Gin and Shinpachi didn’t look convinced, Kagura continued desperately, “I…have something that might be able to help Aniki, uh-huh! Please, Gin-chan…just give me a few days! If it doesn’t work, we can call someone…!”

Kagura looked so sad, so desperate, so worried. He bit the inside of his cheek, how could he tell her this was beyond them, and Kamui needed professional help (in more ways than one). She looked so determined, that he just couldn’t say ‘no’.

“Fine.” Gin said, rubbing his forehead in exasperation, “You have three days.”

Shinpachi opened his mouth to object as Kagura gave them a watery smile and ran over to her closet. Gin shook his head slightly, they were out of time to argue. If Kagura said she had something that could help, then maybe it was their best option at the moment.

Kagura returned holding a vial of a greyish purple powder. When Gin and Shinpachi looked at her questioningly, she said, “It’s an ancient Yato panacea, uh-huh. Aniki and I often had to use it came home really beat up and he would get better in two days.”

“Ok,” Gin said, nodding, “How does it work?”

“Well first we need to open up this gash on his arm, to bleed out the poison.” Gin and Shinpachi looked at each other in confusion, how could she know what was wrong with Kamui? At their looks of consternation, Kagura shrugged, “It smells like poison around that cut on Aniki’s shoulder, uh-huh. Shinpachi, I need you boil some water so we can sterilize a knife.”

Shinpachi dropped the blankets and hurried over to the kitchen to start some water boiling. Gin, looking astounded, said “Kagura, how do you know so much about this stuff?”

“When I was little, my mammy was always sick…I often had to do things like this for her, uh-huh.”

Once the knife had been sterilized, Kagura gathered it and two bowls, one of which she had poured lukewarm water into. As she brought the knife to the swollen, seeping gash on Kamui’s shoulder, Gin looked away. Blood wasn’t an unusual sight for him. But, he barely registered it during a battle. Watching Kagura work, Gin felt his own inadequacies a little too keenly. The downpour outside seemed much more interesting at the moment. At some point, he heard Shinpachi run to the bathroom. Any other time, Gin might have laughed at how wimpy Shinpachi was being. He wasn’t laughing this time.

Once Kagura was done flushing the wound out, she boiled more water boiling for her ‘Yato panacea’. She put some of the powder into a teapot and poured the boiling water over it. She then looked over at Gin (Shinpachi was still looking a little green) and said, “Gin-chan, I need you to hold his head up so I can pour this into his mouth, uh-huh.”

Gin nodded and lifted Kamui’s head up as asked. Kagura started pouring the near-boiling liquid into her brother’s mouth. At first nothing seemed to happen, but soon Kamui’s eyes fluttered very slightly and he swallowed his medicine. Kagura’s eyes lit up at this, her treatment was working!

When the pot was empty, Gin gently set Kamui’s head down. After a few moments, Kamui’s eyes fluttered half-way open. Gin took one look at him and said “His pupils are huge! You sure your panacea’s working, Kagura-chan?”

Kagura nodded, “Yup, that’s what I expected, uh-huh.”

At the sound of Kagura’s voice, Kamui turned his head towards her. With a weak smile on his face, Kamui whispered hoarsely “Hey, lil’ sis, looks like you still have some Dragon Flower. Really takes me back…” Kamui’s eyes fluttered closed as he fell back into unconsciousness.

Kagura looked up at Gin and he was surprised by the tears in her eyes, “Gin-chan, he hasn’t called me that in a long time...He must really be out of it, uh-huh.”

“Yeah, seems so.” Gin nodded, looking down at Kamui’s now peaceful face, “I hope your…what’d Kamui call it…dragon flower? I hope the medicine works.”

“According to Yato legend, if a healthy person eats the dragon flower, they become as strong as a dragon in exchange for a shorter lifespan, uh-huh. But for whatever reason, it makes sick people healthy again. I dunno, I never paid much attention, uh-huh.” Gin shrugged, if this ‘dragon flower’ worked, that was good enough for him.

Over the next two days, Kagura continued giving Kamui the dragon flower tea. The first day, Kagura stayed by his side all day giving him the tea at the appropriate times. On the second day, however, she was gone by the time Gin got up, having left instructions on the kitchen counter for Gin and Shinpachi.

Later that day, there was a knock on the Yorozuya door. Shinpachi answered the door to a glowering Hijikata, a pouting Kagura . “I came to deliver you your monster. She was distracting Sougo.” Was all he said then he left. Kagura spent the rest of the day staring out the window. Not even Sadaharu or Sukonbu could cheer her up. That night they all went to sleep with heavy hearts.

The next morning, Gin woke up to a bright, cheery, sunny day. He sighed, so much for pathetic fallacy, eh? As Gin contemplated getting up, he startled. Crouching at the foot of his futon, a smile plastered across his face, was Kamui, “Good morning, sir, could you perhaps tell me where I am?”

What? Had Kamui just called him sir? “Um…uh…You’re in my house. You’ve been unconscious for the past couple days.”

“I see...” Kamui’s smile grew wider, “Could you tell me your name? It’s a little awkward to keep calling you sir, don’t you think?”

Gin blinked in confusion, what’s going on here, “You don’t remember me?”

“I believe this is the first time we’ve ever met.”

“Eh? You really don’t know me? I’m Sakata Gintoki, you met me in Yoshiwara. You watched me fight the Night King with a smile similar to the one you have now.”

“Oh, really? Well thank you for helping me out Gintoki-san…I have one more question for you, though.”

“Yeah…” Gin had a funny feeling he knew exactly what that question was going to be.

“Gintoki-san, could you perhaps tell me my name? I seem to have forgotten it as well.” Gin groaned, yep that’s what he was afraid of. First poison and now amnesia? This brother of Kagura’s was going to be a real pain in the ass, wasn’t he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank god it's over...  
> This was a really frustrating chapter to rewrite. I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote it the first time (probably something similar to now...)  
> Yeah, I know, Kagura probably can't smell poison. But it's better than what I first wrote (Gin somehow just knowing Kamui had been poisoned).  
> Well, it's not all negative, I liked the end of this chapter. I promise there's going to be more humor next chapter!  
> Comments and Kudos are always appreciated ^~^  
> Also, if you want you can yell at me on twitter @MurayamaTsuru  
> Hope to see you next chapter!


	3. Amnesia Makes Everything Complicated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! Wow, there are over 100 hits on this fic! I really didn't think anyone was going to read it at all. Thank you all so much! Here's chapter 3!  
> I hope you enjoy it ^~^

How could this be happening? It was only yesterday that Kamui had been lying on his couch and now what? Here Kamui was, head tilted slightly to the side, looking up at Gin curiously, asking what this own name was. Gin was beginning to think he signed up for too much when he took Kamui home.

Gin was spared having to deal with this problem for the moment, as he heard Shinpachi enter the Yorozuya, “Gin-san, I’m back. I see Kamui-san isn’t on the couch. I bet Kagura-chan will be relieved to see him up.”

“So my name’s Kamui, Gintoki-san? I have a pretty cool name.” Kamui said, following Gin as he left his room, “By the way, who was that just now? And who’s Kagura?”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re name’s Kamui,” Gin said dismissively. Gin began rubbing at his temples and wondering, not for the first time, how everything could be going so wrong…

“We have a problem.” Gin said upon locating Shinpachi in the kitchen, head buried in the refrigerator (Gin guessed that he’d been treated to one of Otae’s “omelets” and was looking for something to chase the taste away).

“What’s up, Gin-san?” Shinpachi said, closing the refrigerator door, pulling out leftover rice, “Did you run out of strawberry milk again? I keep telling you not to drink it more slowly.”

Gin rolled his eyes, “I do NOT drink my strawberry milk too fast! what are you insinuating Megane-kun? Why are you complaining about my drinking habits when you’re just a glasses holder! Wait…that’s beside the point. Kagura’s Nii-chan has anorexia! He can’t even remember his own name!”

“No…Gin-san, that’s amnesia. Anorexia is an eating disorder…”

“Same difference, Shinpachi. Either way he needs to see a doctor!”

“But Kagura-chan said doctors were out of the question...besides, I don’t think there’s an easy way to cure amnesia…”

Gin ignored Shinpachi and turned to Kamui, “And this, Kamui-kun, is Megane-kun. As you can see all his personality is in his glasses; the rest of him is just water and garbage. His name is actually Shinpachi, but we all just call him Megane-kun.”

Kamui, nodded thoughtfully, taking Gin’s words to heart. He then looked at Shinpachi and smiled, “Thank you for telling me my name Megane-kun. I was starting to think that Gintoki-san had forgotten it as well.”

Shinpachi threw his hands up, it was hard to take this much teasing first thing in the morning, “Argh, what are you doing, Gin-san! Please, Kamui-san, don’t listen to Gin-san. No one actually calls me Megane-kun, it was a joke.”

“Oh, I see...Gintoki-san is quite funny don’t you think, Megane-kun?”

“You’re not listening to me at all, are you?” Shinpachi sighed, “Wait, Gin-san? Did he just call you Gintoki-san?”

“Yup”

“I don’t think I’ve heard anyone other than Katsura-san call you by your full first name! I think you’re right about taking Kamui-san to a doctor…”

“Told you so.” Gin said, retreating to his room to get dressed, a carton of strawberry milk in hand.

The three were about to head out the door, when the closet door opened with a clack, “Where do you think you’re taking my Aniki, uh-huh?”

While both Gin and Shinpachi were trying think up some excuse, Kamui piped up happily, “We’re going to the doctor. Apparently, I have amnesia! Gintoki-san, is this the ‘Kagura’ mentioned earlier. She doesn’t look too relieved to see me…”

Kagura’s eyes widened, “He has amnesia?! I knew those space pirates weren’t feeding him, uh-huh!”

“Again, that’s anorexia.” Shinpachi said, face palming, “And you even have that wrong, Kagura-chan. Anorexia is an eating disorder, not…whatever you said. Amnesia is when you lose your memory.”

“Same difference Shinpachi. But…you’re right, Aniki should probably go see a doctor. Dragon Flower is only good for physical injuries...”

“Ok,” Gin said, “Can we go now? I wanna get there before the line gets too long.”

Kagura gave him a look, “What line? It’s a doctor’s office, uh-huh. And shouldn’t you, y’know, at least give him a disguise or something? Aniki’s a wanted criminal and all, you could at least give him a pair of sunglasses, uh-huh.”

Gin nodded, Kagura was right. But what would work as a good disguise? Gin tapped his fist on his palm as inspiration struck, dashing back into his room. He returned a moment later with a white and blue-striped sailor hat with a tassel on top. He held the hat out to Kamui and said, “Here you go. Since your memorable features are the braid and the _ahoge_ , covering them up with a hat would make for a good disguise, no?”

“But, Gintoki-san,” Kamui said, eyeing the hat warily, “I’m not too sure about this…this… _ahoge_ as you called it, seems integral to my character...”

“Don’t worry, it won’t be for too long. Then your _ahoge_ can fly free again. And anyways, you’ve had worse disguises. When we first met you, you were dressed up like a budget Shishio Makoto.”

“Who?” Kamui blinked, somehow that name sounded oddly familiar…

“I’ll tell you about it while we’re in the waiting room.” Gin said with a grin. Kamui shrugged and put the hat on.

Kagura yawned, “Alright Gin-chan, I’m going back to bed. Don’t forget Aniki’s umbrella.” She said as she disappeared once again into her closet

As Kamui, Shinpachi, and Gin were about to headed out the door, Shinpachi asked, “Gin-san, where did you get that hat anyways?”

Gin shrugged, “Some surfer dude gave it to me.”

“…Gin-san, should you really be accepting gifts from strangers like that…?”

“Don’t worry about it, Megane-kun, he was harmless...probably...Well, better get going, Kamui’s memory isn’t coming back any sooner.”

Shinpachi rolled his eyes, and was about to retort when Kamui said, “What is a surfer anyway? Are they a person of the land or the sea?”

“Good question, Kamui.” Gin said, shutting the door behind them.

* * *

“Sakata-san, Shimura-san. You can come in now. I’m done examining your…” The doctor trailed off, unsure of how these three were related.

“He’s our cousin.” Gin supplied, coming into the examination room.

The doctor suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, that’s what they said the first time too…

“Right, your cousin. Well, I’ve finished examining him.”

Gin and Shinpachi sat next to Kamui on the chairs in the examination room. The doctor closed the door and cleared his throat, “Right, your…cousin seems to be suffering from retrograde amnesia.”

“We already knew that,” Gin snapped, “Do you have any idea what caused it?”

“Well it could have been a number of things. From this slight burn here,” the doctor said, pointing to Kamui’s lower leg, “it seems he was electrocuted. And judging from the large bruise on the back of his head, I’d say he’d been whacked by something…A cast-iron skillet maybe?

“Doctor,” Gin asked with raised eyebrow, “How exactly would you know that?”

“My spouse is not the gentlest person in the world…” the doctor said, scratching his cheek sheepishly, “Also, you said he’d been poisoned recently. So it could be any of those things.”

“So how what’s the cure?” Gin asked

“There is no cure for retrograde amnesia. I would suggest surrounding your cousin with things that might stimulate his memories. Perhaps spending time with a sibling might help?”

The three thanked the doctor and left, not exactly filled with confidence that they knew how to proceed from here. As the three were walking back to Gin’s apartment, Gin asked “So, do you remember anything at all?”

“Not really…but Kagura said something about pirates? Is that what I am?”

“Yep,” Gin said, “if I recall, you’re the captain of the Harusame Space Pirates.”

“Captain?” Kamui furrowed his brows in consternation, “that rank’s not high enough…I can hear someone calling me admiral in my mind…”

“Wow, seems you’ve leveled up.” Gin said with a snort

“By the way, what is it exactly that the Harusame Space Pirates do?”

“From what Kagura says,” Gin said jokingly, “You’re trying to be king of the pirates”

Kamui’s eyes light up, “That’s it!” He said with a smile. Gin and Shinpachi looked at each other, what kind of weird stuff were those Harusame guys doing up in space? Besides coming to earth to kill Hosen and teaming up with the Kiheitai, that is.

Kamui started looking curiously at everything around him. After a while he ran up to Gin sand said cheerily, “Gintoki-san, this road seems familiar. But we’re walking down it the wrong way.”

“Eh? We’re just walking…how should we be doing it?” Shinpachi asked. Kamui then proceeded to sneak to the side of a building then look around as if to check if someone was watching him. He then darted to the next building and the cycle repeated itself. After watching for a while, Gin and Shinpachi looked at each other again. Shinpachi looked more than a little worried, but Gin had this shit-eating grin on his face, “It seems our little Kamui-chan is a stalker like everyone else on this show. Let’s see where he leads us.”

While Kamui kept dashing from building to building, Gin and Shinpachi followed him. Eventually, Kamui “led” them to the Yorozuya’s neighbor across the street. Kamui knocked on the door, and a balding middle-aged man (who looked oddly familiar…but Gin couldn’t quite place him…) answered. The man took one look at Kamui and began stuttering, “K-k-k-Kamui-sama…I wasn’t expecting y-you today. U-unfortunately, my spare room’s not available at the moment…b-but if you come back tomorrow...”

Shinpachi was about to step in to stop whatever this was, until Kamui said, in a cheerily malevolent voice, “I don’t need the spare room today, _Jijii_. Just felt like checking in on you.” Kamui skipped back over to Gin and Shinpachi, grinning maliciously.

“What was that about?” Both Gin and Shinpachi asked, as they walked back up to the Yorozuya.

Kamui shook his head, “I’m not sure. I think I’ve done that before. But, every time I try to catch a memory, it slips through my fingers.”

Later, during dinner, after both Kamui and Kagura had multiple helpings, Gin started complaining loudly, “How could I forget how much you Yato eat? We don’t have this kind of money! If this keeps up, You guys are gonna eat me out of house and home…!”

“But, Gin-chan,” Kagura said, “We’re already broke, uh-huh! How much broker can we get?” At that, Gin started banging his head against the table while Shinpachi laughed nervously. Then, as Shinpachi was trying to explain to Kagura what Gin meant, Kamui got a flash of someone else who told him he ate too much. The voice was so familiar, but when Kamui tried to grab hold of the memory, it slipped away. Kamui concentrated harder, determined to remember, and the flashes started in earnest.

A rainy city, a crying child, a bloody battlefield, a man with an umbrella that blocked out his face, a ship, a city underground, a buff old man, a flash of silver hair, sad blue eyes, an intriguing one-eyed man...There was hardly any meaning in these flashes…only pain. Kamui groaned, clutching his head, the world seemed to be spinning…spinning…spinning…

Kamui was brought back to the kitchen of the Yorozuya by a firm hand and Gin’s concerned voice, “Hey are you ok?”

Kamui tried to look in the direction of the voice and croaked out, “I’m…fine. I thought I was remembering something…but I guess not…”.

He heard Kagura’s voice say, “Aniki, maybe you should try remembering tomorrow, uh-huh. I bet you’re just tired.”

“Yeah, it’s just about time to call it a night, anyways. C’mon, let’s get you over to the couch.” Kamui tried to stand on his own, but his legs buckled under him and he collapsed back onto the floor. He then felt Gin sling an around him and walk him slowly over to the couch. As Kamui was laid down on the couch, eyes drooping drowsily, he couldn’t help thinking about those flashes of memory. What had those sad blue eyes meant? The meaning was so close and yet…

Gin walked Shinpachi to the door. By the time he returned, Kagura had already returned to her closet. He looked had already managed to fall asleep. Gin gave him one last concerned look then went into his room thinking ‘Glad Bakasugi isn’t here…’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's that!  
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated  
> I'm @MurayamaTsuru on twitter, if you wanna come yell at me ^~^


	4. Waking Up at 5 in the Morning is Never Fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was another chapter that was painful to edit...  
> I hope you enjoy...

_Shinsuke laughed, eye gleaming with mad delight, as the world burned around them. Kamui looked on dispassionately; was this really the outcome he’d been hoping for? All he’d wanted was a good fight. Well, he’d be getting that now, wouldn’t he? What are politics when a good punch could solve everything much faster? Kamui looked down at his blood-soaked hands and had the sudden realization he was looking at his sister’s blood. Where was she? Suddenly panicked, Kamui looked away from Shinsuke to try and find Kagura. There she was, in Shinpachi’s arms, a ragged hole in her chest. As Kamui was about to abandon his fight with Shinsuke, he was stopped by a look from Shinpachi; his glasses comically askew, but his glare stopped Kamui in his tracks nonetheless. Kamui then saw Gintoki-san, his dead-fish eyes looking deader than usual. They’re eyes met, and Gintoki-san shook his head, “I thought you changed.” He said as passed Kamui by. All Kamui could do was howl in agony._

Kamui jolted awake, breathing hard. The early morning gloom of the room he had woken up in was a jarring contrast to the vivid flames of his nightmare. What was that about? Who’s Shinsuke? Where was he anyways? Oh…right, this is Gintoki-san’s apartment. Kamui looked around blearily for a clock and sighed when he found one that read 5:03. This felt very familiar, and from past experience he couldn’t quite remember, Kamui knew there was no going back to sleep for him. Kamui wandered over to the kitchen to see if Abuto had made him something for breakfast. He was deeply disappointed to find a table devoid of both food and Abuto. Kamui opened the refrigerator wondering who Abuto was and why he’d been expecting breakfast from him.

Kamui wasn’t the only person awake so early in the morning. Gin had also been awoken from a nightmare he couldn’t remember the details of, but the feeling of it still clung to his bones. As Gin tried to steady his heart, He glared up at the ceiling, as if it was what caused all his problems. Just as he felt he could go back to sleep, there was a noise from the kitchen. It was probably just Shinpachi getting in early, making a racket as usual…wait…Shinpachi doesn’t usually come around ‘til seven . Gin sighed and ran his and through his hair. ‘Better check that out,’ Gin thought as he got out of his futon.

Gin opened his door to see Kamui rummaging around through the refrigerator. Hearing the door open, Kamui looked up and smiled, “Good morning, Gintoki-san, I got hungry. I hope you don’t mind…”

Gin shrugged, “Nah, I don’t mind. But how about I make you some _Okayu_ instead, so there’s something left for later?”

As Gin got to making breakfast, Kamui cocked his head to the side, “Why rice porridge, Gintoki-san?”

“It’s the only thing that seems to fill you Yato up. Why?”

“It’s what Abuto usually feeds me, if he’s up.”

Gin’s mouth twisted into a slight scowl, “Great…if I’d known that, I’d be making you oatmeal instead.”

Kamui snorted at that, “What? You’re weird, Gintoki-san! Why?”

Gin’s scowl deepened, “Don’t like the guy very much. The last time I saw him, he nearly killed my two brats.”

“Don’t be too harsh on him, Gintoki-san, he was in a bad mood because he’d just lost an arm. Besides, it was probably better that it was Abuto fighting Kagura and Megane-kun…”

“You seem to be remembering an awful lot for a supposed amnesiac, Kamui-kun.”

Kamui chuckled, “I don’t remember much else, really. This Abuto guy seems to show up in a lot of the flashes I have. I’ve gone through this before, I think.”

“Gone through what?” Gin asked as he set a bowl of _Okayu_ down in front of Kamui. Kamui avoided the question by shoving a large spoonful of rice porridge into his mouth.

After a few bites of silent eating, Gin came to a realization, “Nightmares woke you up too, huh.” Kamui looked up, mid-bite, eyes wide. How did Gintoki-san know?; Before Kamui could question whether or not Gin had psychic powers, the other man had gotten up and returned to his room. Kamui shrugged and went back to eating.

A few minutes later, Gin emerged, dressed in his usual yukata. He quickly wrote something down on a piece of paper and looked at Kamui, “C’mon, we’re going to the store, I need more strawberry milk. And I may as well stock up since there are two Yato living with me now.”

Kamui quickly gulped down the last of his _Okayu_ and trotted after him, laughing, “Maybe Shinpachi’s right, you do drink your strawberry milk too fast.”

Gin clicked his tongue, “so you’ll call Shinpachi by his first name when he’s not around?”

Kamui laughed again, “Well you do too don’t you?”

Gin just rolled his eyes in response and Kamui chuckled as the two headed out.

The two were about halfway to the store when Kamui asked “Gintoki-san, how’d you know I was having nightmares?”

Gin looked at Kamui, and those dead fish eyes of his almost looked sad “You had that look about you.” Kamui only nodded, and they walked the rest of the way in silence

The two exited the store with Gin carrying one bag and Kamui carrying ten. Gin almost felt sorry for him, but the guy had volunteered (something that seemed quite out of character to Gin). And what was Yato strength good for if not hauling around several grocery bags. Nothing, that’s what!

As they were walking back to the Yorozuya, Kamui stopped short, making Gin almost run into him, “Gintoki-san am I a bad person?”

“Eh?” Gin asked, surprised. What kind of nightmare had sparked this question?

“I’ve seen the looks you guys give me when you think I’m not looking. Like I’m gonna steal your food or something…again, am I a bad person?”

Gin sighed, “I dunno, man. Doubt I’m the best judge of character, anyways.”

“Why not?”

“I’ve done some fucked up things in my time, Kamui. All in the name of justice, of course, but still...I try not to judge too much on good or bad. I just want to protect the people I care about.”

“I need to know, Gintoki-san! I have these flashes, but I don’t know what they mean! Am I trying to become King of the Pirates? Even if I am a ‘bad’ person, I just need to know.”

“Okay, okay,” Gin said, “I don’t know a whole lot, but from what I’ve heard, you ran away after ripping your dad’s arm off. You joined the Harusame at some point. They sent you down to earth because of something to do with Hosen the Night King of Yoshiwara. That’s when I met you. I saw you and the only thing I thought was that you smiled too much, but I didn’t exactly get the opportunity to get to know you. If you’re asking me, I’d say you’re not sure if you’re a good person or a bad person yourself. I mean, you protected me from the Harusame by saying you killed Hosen; but then again that’s because you want to fight me. When I’ve talked to your dad about you, he seems to think you’ve got strong Yato blood running through your veins. I don’t know if I agree with that, I’m sure you have some deeper motivation, but I just don’t know it. I only met you the one time though, I think you’ll have to ask Kagura if you really want to know more.”

Kamui silently digested Gin’s words on the walk up the stairs to the Yorozuya. Gin himself wondered if, when Kamui regained his memories, what he’d think about Gin had just said.

As Kamui and Gin were almost at the top of the stairs, Gin sensed someone watching them. He looked across the street and made eye contact with _Jijii_ , who quickly ducked back inside his house. That’s when Gin noticed very familiar barcode hair.

Gin looked at Kamui and grinned, “Hey, sorry to bother you with one last bag, but could you take this in for me. There’s something I need to take care of.” Kamui nodded and took the bag. As he was heading up the stairs, Gin called out “I better not find a bunch of empty snack bags when I get back!”

Kamui looked mock scandalized, “Gintoki-san, I would never!”

“That’s what Kagura said, too, the first time I let her put groceries away by herself…” Kamui laughed and waved off his concerns as he disappeared into the Yorozuya.

Once Gin was sure Kamui couldn’t see him anymore, Gin’s smile dropped. He stalked over to _Jijii’s_ house. How had he not noticed before? Must have been because he was too busy trying to keep Kamui murdering the guy.

_Jijii_ answered the door after the third knock and Gin said in a fake cheerful voice, “Hello _Jijii_ , I just wanted to come over to apologize on behalf of Kamui-kun. You see, he’s lost his memory, but the way he acted yesterday was wrong, and I’m deeply sorry.”

As Gin thought, _Jijii_ seemed to have dropped the panicked stutter at the mention of Kamui, “Don’t worry about it, I’m sure he’s going through a hard time.”

Gin rolled his eyes “Of course you’d say that.”

“Excuse me?” _Jijii_ said, slight annoyance coloring his voice.

“Well, I mean, I think a father would care about his son’s wellbeing, don’t you, Umibouzu?”

‘ _Jijii’_ sighed, “How’d you know?”

“Well I didn’t see it yesterday. But just a minute ago, as you ducked back inside, I recognized your…hairstyle.” Umibouzu gave Gin an annoyed glare at the mention of his hair, but said nothing, “Then I remembered that we haven’t had neighbors living across the street from us for a while. So, how long have you known that your son was spying on us?”

“For a while, I have a few friends whose kids are in the Harusame.”

Gin snorted, “An old man like you has friends?”

Umibouzu gave him a pointed look, but ignored the jibe, “My friends’ sons would tell them stories about how their eccentric captain went off on long trips to earth. I thought it was a little strange, so one day I followed one of his subordinates following him and it led me here. Then I bought this house across from yours. It was only a few months ago that he started using the spare. I used this disguise so he wouldn’t recognize me. I wasn’t sure it’d work, but it did. You should thank me; I’m making sure he doesn’t cause others problems.”

“Sounds like you’re just indulging your son and his stalking habits, to me.” Gin snorted again, sticking his pinky into his ear.

Umibouzu growled at that, but before he could retort, Gin felt his cell phone vibrate. He flipped it open to find a text from Shinpachi: _Gin-san, that other Yato we fought in Yoshiwara is outside…come back soon..._

Gin sighed, speak of the devil and all that…Gin waved a quick goodbye to an irritated Umibouzu and began to sneak back to the Yorozuya. As Gin snuck by the entrance to Otose Snack House, he saw the person Shinpachi was talking about. He was tall and was wearing a black cape, grey martial arts outfit, his umbrella was propped lazily against his shoulder. The irritation he’d felt when Kamui had mentioned the guy earlier was back, but Gin swallowed it down and tried extra hard to be quiet as he was walking by.

But, of course, to his rotten luck, he banged his foot on a trashcan.

Cursing and hopping on one foot, out of the corner of his eye, Gin saw the man startle. The guy then turned toward he noise and said, “Hey, the admiral didn’t end up here did he?”

Gin tried his best to look innocent as he nursed his stubbed toe, “Nope, haven’t seen him. Have you checked the local restaurants? Y’know, like brother like sister, they’re both big eaters.” The man gave him a skeptical look, but before he could say anything else, Gin had turned tail, booking it down the nearest alleyway.

Gin was hoping to lead the man away from the house, but soon he was mentally face-palming. Of course the alley he’d chosen dead ended to a fence. Cornered, he watched as the man approached him; a dark look and scowl cluing Gin in to the guy’s bad mood.

“Abuto? Is that you?” Gin looked up to see Kamui hanging out an open window, a mischievous grin on his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean, really? I had to put Umibozu in this fic, too? I'm keeping him in, partly because I don't want to change the original story too much. Hope you enjoyed this chapter too! Kudos and comments are always appreciated.
> 
> As always, I'm @MurayamaTsuru on twitter if you want to come yell at me ^~^  
> Hope to see you next chapter!


	5. Abuto's Not Fond of his New Nickname

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back!  
> A few things to note: Abuto and Jiraiya share a voice actor (it comes up later ;))  
> In my head, Abuto has always been a glorified babysitter to Kamui. All this really means, is that Abuto does all the administrivia that Kamui isn't interested in doing (like paperwork. Why would pirates have paperwork you ask? ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯)  
> Anyways, on to chapter 5! Hope you enjoy~

Abuto’s week was going as well as could be expected (for an overworked, underpaid bureaucrat, that is). It started, as usual, when he was woken up at 4:30 AM by Kamui’s nightmares. This was the third morning in a row Abuto had been woken up this way, and the lack of sleep was starting to catch up with him. As with the two mornings before, Abuto sighed, got out of bed, and made his way over to the kitchen.

When Kamui came in bleary-eyed about an hour later, Abuto had already made breakfast (and had eaten several bowls for himself) and was halfway through the morning paper. Abuto noticed Kamui’s small smile as he sat down and the sleep deprivation was almost worth it for that.

After giving Kamui their daily orders, he was looking forward to the stress relief of knocking some heads together. Being Kamui’s unofficial second in command, Abuto had to do twice the work he ever had to do when Hosen was in charge. Any chance Abuto had at venting his frustration at Kamui’s lack of managerial skills was a good day to him.

Everything was going well until they got to the boss’s room. Turns out the CEO wasn’t the CEO, but a shadow-CEO (precisely for times like these, Abuto assumed). Once the shadow-CEO had been ‘interrogated’, the 7th squad learned the real CEO was in some warehouse far away from the main building.

As the they were leaving the room, the fake CEO pushed a button and everything started closing. Since Kamui was closest to the door, Abuto pushed him out. The second Kamui was out the door, ropes dropped from the ceiling, bringing Ninjas with them. Abuto took one look at the ninjas and a feral smile crept on his lips; time to let off some steam.

After a fight that was much too short, Abuto and the rest of the 7th bust through the closed door barely scathed. They then made their way to the warehouse where all that awaited them was dead bodies. No Kamui and no CEO. Abuto made his way to what seemed to be the epicenter of the fight and saw something that usually didn’t belong on a battlefield. Chuckling to himself, Abuto picked up the cast iron skillet and inspected it. With the way the poor thing was dented, it was clear that Kamui had been using it. Only Kamui, Abuto thought. Where was the admiral anyways? And why hadn’t he stuck around?

Abuto turned to leave, best to see if Kamui had left some kind of trail. As Abuto was leaving, one of the new recruits came in (probably wanting to see that carnage Kamui had caused). As the kid reached down to pick up one of the many bent arrows on the floor, Abuto said “I wouldn’t touch that if I were you.”

The kid looked up at Abuto, irritated that their own investigation had been interrupted, “Why not?”

Abuto gave the kid a flat stare, “Take a good, long sniff. I’ll admit, the smell of the poison is _almost_ masked by all the blood. But give it a moment, and I bet you’ll smell it, too.” The kid huffed and rolled his eyes, but did as Abuto said. After a second, their eyes widened in surprise. With eyes averted, the kid hurried out of the room mumbling an apology. Abuto walked over to the arrow himself and carefully put it into a bag. Hopefully a poison analysis would be able to tell them if Kamui was in any actual danger.

Over the next few days, Abuto searched everywhere for Kamui. After the restaurants and dojos didn’t pan out, Abuto was starting to run out of ideas. And that was when some other new recruit (probably) approached Abuto and said, “Abuto…sir, I think we might need help…finding the admiral…”

Abuto gave him a look, “And who do you suggest? I doubt advertising that the admiral of the Harusame Space Pirates is missing would be the best idea we’ve ever had.”

This person blanched and started stuttering, “I-I’m sorry sir…it’s just that I found this group called Y-Yorozuya Gin-chan that apparently does odd-jobs…M-maybe they can help us find Admiral Kamui…”

Before Abuto could respond, the person had already fled. Well, they’d had a point, Abuto was running out of ideas. All that really mattered was finding Kamui. If some third party had to be convinced to stay quite later on, so be it. As Abuto set out to find this Yorozuya Gin-chan, he couldn’t help feeling he’d heard the name somewhere before.

Abuto arrived to find that Yorozuya Gin-chan sat above some skeevy looking dive bar. And then it hit him why this place was so familiar. In Kamui’s efforts to see how his sister was doing (‘Abuto, this has nothing to do with my sister. We’re only here so I can find out more about the silver haired Samurai’), they had found this place. Kamui had threatened the neighbor across the street into letting him use one the rooms to spy on his sister. And that was where Abuto had drawn a line. He was absolutely not going to accompany Kamui on his spying trips. If Kamui could only be a Tsundere about seeing to his sister’s wellbeing, then Abuto wanted no part of it.

As Abuto was pondering how exactly he should approach the Yorozuya trio for help (they were probably not his biggest fans), he was startled out of his thoughts by a loud bang followed by a string of loud cursing. Abuto turned and saw a silver-haired man hopping on one foot swearing, “What the fuck!? Why the hell would someone put a trash here? Damnit, I’m gonna kill whoever did this!”

And there he was, the lead Yorozuya himself. Abuto decided to just bite the bullet and ask, “Hey, the admiral didn’t end up here, did he?”

Gin gave Abuto what might have been an innocent look and said, “Nope, haven’t seen him. Have you checked the local restaurants? Y’know, like brother like sister, they’re both big eaters.” Abuto raised an eyebrow, what was this silver haired idiot hiding? Before Abuto could ask anything else, though, Gin had fled down the nearest alley.

That was it. That was the last straw of this lousy week. Abuto grit his teeth and started chasing after Gin. Abuto was quite grateful that the alleyway dead ended into a fence. Upon cornering Gin, Abuto glowered at the other man, ready to force the information he needed out of him.

Before could say anything, though, a familiar voice called out, “Abuto? Is that you?” They both looked up to see Kamui hanging out an open window, a mischievous grin on his lips.

Abuto ignored silver-hair’s annoyed sigh, and called up to Kamui, “What are you doing up there admiral? I’ve looking for you everywhere.”

“I’m sorry Abuto, did I go missing? I don’t seem to have any memories at the moment. Luckily, Gintoki-san took me in!”

Abuto, felt like he’d been punched in the gut. Why was this happening now? Glaring down at Gin, Abuto practically hissed, “What have you done to him?"

Gin returned the glare, vaguely wondering if Takasugi ever felt annoyed at having to look up at the tall Yato, “Me? I haven’t done anything! I found him outside a few days ago, pretty near death if you ask me, and I brought him back up to my apartment. If anyone’s to blame, it’s you Space Pirates!”

Abuto felt his eye twitch, he had no control over where the elders chose to send them. What would this silver haired idiot know? Deep breath, Abuto, now’s not the time. Let’s focus on bringing the admiral back to the ship, “Thank you for taking care of the admiral,” Abuto said through gritted teeth, “But I’m bringing Kamui back with me now.”

“No.”

“Any why not, exactly,” Abuto snarled, barely containing his annoyance.

“You heard what Kamui said, he has amnesia. He only recently remembered your name, Takuto. According to the doctor, he should be surrounded by things that will stimulate his memory. His sister lives with me; what better stimulation?”

“It’s Abuto, not Takuto. I doubt that his sister will bring up any good memories for him. He has nightmares about her, you know.”

“I’m perfectly capable of dealing with nightmares, Kabuto.”

“It’s Abuto. What if the organization we’re going after learns he’s here?”

“What organization are you guys going after, Jiraiya?”

“Jiraiya? That’s not even close to Abuto, dumbass. Why would you even think of that?”

Gin shrugged, “Your voice sounds like his. Y’know, the pervy toad-sage from Naruto. You still haven’t answered my question, Jiraiya-kun.”

Abuto sighed, this was going nowhere. Why, of all places, did Kamui have to end up here? As much as Abuto hated to admit it, Gin actually seemed like the…reliable sort…after a quick check for spies, Abuto motioned Gin closer and whispered, “You might not believe me, but we’re going after NCIS. They’re up to something that could negatively affect the Harusame and the people of Edo.”

Gin’s eyes widened, “You’re going to cancel the Noh Criminal Investigative Service? I mean, yeah, the show’s kinda gone downhill in recent years. I think it’ll just peter out on its own. No need for you guys to get involved.”

Abuto gave Gin an incredulous look, “What the hell are you on about?”

Gin returned the look, “Y’know, the TV show, NCIS. They solve crimes that happen in the Noh Theater.” Abuto shook his head, and Gin continued, “Their leader is Genji’ he’s a silent type who used to be a Samurai. Then there’s Makoto, the nerdy one, Toni the one who references famous Noh plays all the time, and Zuiko the Amanto liaison officer. Some people prefer Keito, but I always thought Zuiko was a more complex character…”

“What is it exactly is it you think we do?” Abuto interrupted 

Gin shrugged again, “I dunno, I never wanted to get to know the people who teamed up with Bakasugi. I dunno, maybe you pirate DVDs or something.”

“What? No!” Abuto face-palmed, “We’re got orders to take out the Neo Creative Inventions Service. Ever heard of them?”

Gin tapped his fist on his open palm, “Yeah, they’ve been around since before the war. Why would you guys care about them?”

“As I said, they’re up to something. I can’t go into all the details, but it isn’t good.”

“Ah, I see. You think they’ll come after Kamui?”

“Probably, if they know he’s alive. If you’re going to insist that he stays here, you better watch your back. They tried to poison the admiral, so who know what they’ll try the second time arond.”

Gin nodded sagely, “Don’t worry too much about Kamui, he’s in better hands here with us.”

“Don’t test me,” Abuto growled, “I would much rather take him back to the ship. But maybe it would be better if he stays here.”

Abuto turned to leave, no longer in the mood to deal with Gin. Before he had gone more than a few steps, though, Gin called out, “Jiraiya-kun, if you want to keep an eye on Kamui, the _Jijii_ across the street would be more than happy to let you stay. Just tell him Sakata-san sent him and I’m sure he’ll be happy to help out.”

‘I doubt that’ Abuto thought as he walked away. But it probably would be good to know what Kamui was up to...

When Abuto was out of sight, Gin’s shoulders slumped in relief. Jiraiya-kun was a serious annoyance and Gin was glad he was gone. Gin walked back to his house, glaring at the trash that had betrayed him earlier

When he entered the Yorozuya, Kamui came bounding over to him. After a few seconds, he cocked his head, “Gintoki-san, where’s Abuto?”

“Oh, Jiraiya-kun? Don’t worry, he’s not too far. I sent him to a neighbor’s. I’m sure he’ll be close by if you need him.” Kamui just nodded, ignoring that Gin had just called Abuto Jiraiya.

The rest of the day went by relatively normally for the Yorozuya trio plus Kamui. But come evening, there was an excessive knocking at their door. Gin went to answer it, irritated that his evening had been interrupted. When Gin opened the door, he said incredulously, “What are you doing here…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is the end of chapter 5!  
> I know the NCIS reference is really random. I was a fan of the show at the time (and I may or may not have written an NCIS/Gintama crossover that I'll be posting on Ao3 at some point).  
> Also, in case you didn't know I adore Abuto. The guy found his way into my heart (and all my longfics except one)!
> 
> Hope to see you again next chapter!


	6. Why Haven't You Read Jojolion Yet, Gintoki?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there!  
> Sorry for the lack of updates. I got distracted playing Okami (...oops)  
> Also, I'm floored that this fic has 300+ hits! I'm not sure I've said this before, but I really wasn't expecting anyone to read this story at all! So, to everyone who's read so far, thank you! It means a lot to me!  
> Well, I hope you enjoy chapter 6!

That evening, when Gin answered the door, he was met with the one eyed scowl of none other than Takasugi Shinsuke. First Jiraiya (…Abuto…whatever. Insulting the guy didn’t have the same bite when he wasn’t within earshot) and now Bakasugi? What in the world had Gin done to deserve this? Nothing, that’s what!

“About time, Gintoki.” Takasugi said, pulling a pipe out of his sleeve, “You know I hate being kept waiting.”

With an irritated sigh, Gin said, “What are you doing here…?”

Takasugi leaned back against the railing and lit his _kiseru_. After a long drag on the pipe, Takasugi exhaled a cloud of smoke, “Can’t I visit an old comrade?”

Gin rolled his eyes, “I’m not giving him back to you. You and Jiraiya certainly aren’t going to aid in his recovery. Kamui’s staying here.”

Takasugi’s visible eyebrow furrowed, “…Jiraiya…?”

Gin waved a hand dismissively, “Oh, you know. The tall Yato with one arm.”

“…You mean Abuto? Where did you pull Naruto’s mentor’s name from, Gintoki?”

Gin shrugged, “I dunno, the guy just sounds like Jiraiya to me.”

“If you say so...” Takasugi took another drag on his _kiseru_ , “Anyways, I’m not here to bring Kamui back with me. It’s more interesting this way.”

“Then why the _fuck_ are you even here? What could possibly be worth a Shinsengumi raid? I mean, don’t you know I have enough trouble on my hands hosting the admiral of the Harusame Space Pirates? And now I have you, the leader of the Kiheitai, knocking at my door? Really, Bakasugi, I expected better of you. You’re not Zura after all. But even Zura has the good sense to wear a disguise when he decides he wants to hide here. You couldn’t have worn, I dunno, sunglasses, or a hat or something?”

Takasugi eye narrowed dangerously at Gintoki’s unfortunate nickname for him, but his voice was calm when he said, “Gintoki, it’s nighttime. I think I would stick out more if I was wearing sunglasses, don’t you?”

Gin shrugged, “Why? Hasegawa wears sunglasses all the time? People hardly give him a second glance.”

Takasugi scoffed, “That disgraced Bakufu? Of course nobody’s going to give that Madao a second glance.”

“How do you know Kagura-chan’s nickname for Hasegawa?”

“It doesn’t matter, Gintoki. There’s something—” Before Takasugi could finish his sentence, Gintoki disappeared back into the Yorozuya.

A few moments later, he returned with the blue and white stripped sailor hat that had been used as a part of Kamui’s disguise earlier. “For my peace of mind,” Gin said, handing the hat to Takasugi, “can you just put this on?”

Takasugi inspected the hat, it seemed familiar to him somehow. “Gintoki,” he said once he placed where he recognized the hat from, “Where did you get Josuke’s hat?”

“Higashikata Josuke?” Gin gave Takasugi a look, “from Diamond is Unbreakable? I don’t think so. Josuke’s not going around wearing hats like this, they’d mess up his hair.”

“Not DIU, Jojolion.”

Gin shrugged, “Haven’t started it yet. Is it good?”

Takasugi sighed, “Where is your Jump loyalty, Gintoki?” Gin rolled his eyes and Takasugi shook his head, “Anyways, how did you get this? Last time I checked, Josuke never takes the damn thing off.”

“This surfer dude gave it to me. Oojiro…Sasame, I think? He was muttering something about how much he hated some guy named Yoshikage…”

“And you didn’t put together he was talking about Yoshikage Kira?” Takasugi said, incredulous that self-proclaimed biggest Jump fan, Gintoki hadn’t read Jojolion.

“No, not really. Kira’s in Jojolion, too? Does he still have the hand fetish?”

“…Sort of…Why did give the hat to you?”

Gin shrugged again, “Just wanted someone to vent to, probably. Take a metaphorical load off his shoulders by giving me the hat? I dunno. Guess he surfed his way back over to Morioh after we chatted.”

“You think Oojiro Sasame is good enough to surf through dimensions, Gintoki?” Takasugi was feeling a little annoyed that his missed this event. Sure, Sasame was a relatively unimportant, two-bit antagonist. But still…

Gin grinned, “Weirder things have happened, you know. We are talking about Gintama and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, after all.”

Takasugi sighed and shook his head, “Enough. We have more important things to discuss at the moment.”

Gin raised a hand to his mouth and let out a shocked gasp, “Shinsuke, how dare you?! What could possibly be more important than Jojo?”

“NCIS is on the move.”

Gin’s shoulders slumped, “Oh, right, them. You think they know where Kamui is?”

Takasugi took another long drag on the _kiseru_ ,”Most likely. I’d watch your back if I were you, Gintoki. They might be even more corrupt than the Bakufu.”

Gin snorted, “I’m so touched that you risked getting arrested just to tell me all this. There’s good in you yet, Shinsuke.”

Takasugi clicked his tongue, “With that, I take my leave of you, Gintoki. Make sure you read Jojolion by the next time we meet. It’s your duty as a Samurai.” Takasugi then put on the sailor hat and began to descend the Yorozuya’s stairs.

Before Takasugi was out of earshot, Gin called out, “How is Oojiro doing, by the way? Araki hasn’t killed him yet, has he?”

Takasugi looked back up at Gin with a small smirk on his face, “I won’t spoil much, but your surfer friend is probably feeling a little hot under the collar.” With that, Takasugi walked down the rest of the stairs and disappeared into the night.

Yep, Oojiro Sasame was definitely dead…Gin sighed and walked back into the Yorozuya. Well, may as read Jojolion to find out what happened to poor old Oojiro.

“Who was at the door, Gintoki-san?” Kamui, looking up from a game of Othello he was playing with Kagura (by no rules Gin could make heads or tails of) asked, pulling Gin out of his JJBA-related thoughts

“An…old friend came by to warn us that NCIS is on the move. Does that name ting a bell Kamui-kun?”

Kamui’s eyebrows furrowed, that name did somehow sound familiar “…I think I’ve read that name somewhere before. I’m not sure why, but I have a bad feeling about this, Gintoki-san.”

“Don’t worry, Kamui-kun,” Gin smiled, trying to sound more confident than he suddenly felt, “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

Kamui didn’t quite look convinced. Before he could voice his concerns, Kagura said, “C’mon, Aniki, it’s your move. We don’t have all night, you know, uh-huh!” Kamui smiled and turned back to game.

* * *

The next morning, Gin woke up to a weirdly silent apartment. Now, mornings were usually pretty quiet before Kagura woke up, but where were the usual electrical noises? Usually, Gin could hear the refrigerator running from his room, but try as he might, he couldn’t hear it this morning (and had a sinking feeling he knew why).

As Gin exited his room, Shinpachi entered the Yorozuya and whispered, “Gin-san did you forget to pay the electric bill again?”

Gin rolled his eyes, “No, I did _not_ forget to pay the bill, Pattsuan. I need you to go check who our power company is.”

“Why? Shouldn’t you know that already?”

Gin sighed, “Shinpachi, please. It’s important” noting the edge in Gin’s voice, Shinpachi nodded and started searching though the household files. Gin sighed again, he was pretty sure he knew why the power had gone out. He wished he could dismiss this feeling…

As Gin was worrying, Kagura’s closet door opened and Kagura said, grumpily, “Gin-chan, why’s the power off, uh-huh? It better be back on before _Ladies’ Four_!”

Gin chuckled nervously, “I hope so too, Kagura-chan. Wouldn’t want you to miss _Ladies Four_ now, would we?”

“You got that right, uh-huh!” Kagura said and shut her closet door again with an emphatic _clack_!

“It’s NCIS, isn’t it?” Gin turned to see Kamui staring at him from the couch, an uncharacteristic frown on his face.

Gin shook his head, “We don’t know that for sure.”

Kamui’s frown deepened, “I have a bad feeling about this, Gintoki-san.”

“Let’s just wait until Shinpachi finishes looking through the files…”

After a few more minutes, Shinpachi seemed to find the file he had been looking for, “Gin-san, our power company is the Neo Creative Invention Service. What’s this all about?”

Gin stood up and clapped his hands, trying to ignore Kamui’s ‘I told you so’ look, “Alright! Since the power’s probably going to out for a while, I have a plan. We’re going to stay at our friendly, neighborhood _Jijii’s_ today. But before that, we’ll need to clear out the fridge. Kagura-chan, Kamui-kun, you start eating everything that doesn’t need cooking. Shinpachi, you start cooking anything that can’t be eaten raw. And I’ll start in on dessert!”

During his speech, Kagura had mysteriously reappeared from her closet, chopsticks already in hand. Kamui smile had slightly returned as he and his sister began to raid the fridge.

“What’s going on, Gin-san?” Shinpachi asked

“I’ll tell you all about it when we get to our neighbor’s.” Was all Gin said.

After a few hours of food preparing and eating, the Yorozuya trio plus Kamui, headed over to ‘ _Jijii’s_ ’ house. Gin knocked on the door, and when ‘ _Jijii_ ’ answered it, his friendly smile instantly turned into a scowl. “What are you doing here?” Umibouzu growled

“Well, you see…” Gin started, putting on his brightest businessman smile, “Our power has gone out and we need somewhere to stay.”

“Why not stay at a hotel?”

“Hotels are so expensive! I know you wouldn’t want your kids to stay at some seedy place that I could afford. This is for their sakes, you know…If you don’t I’ll out you as their dad. I’m sure Kagura-chan would love to know that her ‘Pappy’ is spying on her.”

Umibouzu’s mouth dropped, “You wouldn’t dare…”

“Desperate times and all that, _Oyaji._ ” Gin’s smile resembled Kamui’s somewhat as he let Umibouzu ponder his offer. Umibouzu gave Gin a murderous look, then sighed his eyes and let them in.

As Kagura and Shinpachi were settling in (Umibouzu seemed to be trying his best to avoid Kagura’s curious gaze), Kamui and Gin wandered into the kitchen to discuss what to do next. When they arrived, they happened upon Abuto leaning against a wall and glaring at Gin.

“Well if isn’t an obsequious Jiraiya-kun. I see you decided to take me up on my offer. How you doing?”

Abuto continued glaring at Gin, “What have you done now?”

“Nothing, Jiraiya-kun!” Gin scoffed, “If you want to blame anyone, blame Takasugi for deciding to drop in yesterday.”

Abuto narrowed his eyes, but Kamui said, “Gintoki-san didn’t know NCIS would act this quickly, Abuto. Now’s not the time for bickering.”

Abuto sighed, the admiral was right, of course. It didn’t mean he had to like it…

“Gin-chan, Aniki,” Kagura called out, “what’s taking you guys so long, uh-huh?”

“Coming!” Kamui said with a smile as he practically danced out of the room. Abuto and Gin looked at each other, feeling suddenly awkward. Best to join the others as well, it seems…

As Abuto passed Gin, he said “I didn’t know you were neighbors with the famous Umibouzu.”

“Neither did I.” Gin chuckled, “Guess the guy’s a doting father.”

As they entered the living room, Shinpachi took one look at Abuto and the blood seemed to drain from his face. “Gin-san, isn’t that…? What’s he doing here…?!”

Gin looked over at Abuto then back to Shinpachi, “Oh, you mean Jiraiya-kun? Don’t worry about him. If he tries anything, I’m sure _Jijii_ will come our rescue.”

“Eh?” Shinpachi looked skeptically over at Umibouzu, “Are you sure? Wasn’t he terrified of Kamui-san the other day?”

Gin just grinned, “You’d be surprised, Pattsuan.”

Umibouzu’s house having limited single rooms was a major source of contention that night. After a…heated discussion, Kagura got the guest bedroom, Umibouzu got to sleep in his own bed, and the other four had to share the fold-out couch bed. Until Shinpachi decided turn traitor and sleep in his own bed in his actual home. Gin begged Shinpachi to let him sleep over, but he was rejected on the grounds that Shinpachi actually wanted a good night’s sleep. So Gin was sandwiched between Kamui and Abuto on the couch-bed. In the end, Gin shouldn’t have worried because Gin and Kamui were such restless sleepers that Abuto just gave up on sleep that night.

The next morning brought more bad news. Soon after everyone awoke, the power went out in Umibouzu’s house as well. Gin groaned, “How did they know we were here?”

“Maybe Takasugi had a chat with them, too?” Abuto said, the sarcasm practically dripping off of his voice

“Shinsuke wouldn’t do that, Abuto.” Kamui said in between mouthfuls of _okayu._

“You sure about that, Aniki? That guy doesn’t seem very trustworthy, uh-huh!”

As Kamui pondered whether Shinsuke could really be trusted or not (the answer seemed just out reach somehow), Gin seemed to hit on an idea, “I know where we can stay! We’ll leave as soon as we finish breakfast!” He then left the kitchen, leaving the others wondering where they would be going.

As they were all heading out the door, Shinpachi asked, “Gin-san where exactly are we going?”

Gin gave him a deadly serious look and said, “You’ll see, Pattsuan. But be prepared, you may have to make some promises you’ll have no intention of keeping.” Shinpachi had a feeling he knew exactly where Gin was taking them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And in conclusion, read Jojolion ;)
> 
> The beginning of this chapter originally was originally with Matako. After rereading it in preparation for editing, I realized it didn't make a whole lot of sense. I've been teasing Takasugi showing up the last five chapters, so it's about time he showed up! I'm sure Taka's a bit OOC, but I had fun rewriting this scene (and I got to let my love of Gintama and JJBA intersect!)
> 
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated and I hope you'll come back next chapter!
> 
> If you want, you can come yell at me on Twitter @MurayamaTsuru ^~^


	7. Chain Smoking Won't Relieve Your Stress, Oogushi-kun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, hey, it's been awhile.  
> I...uh...got distracted by life...um...well...  
> Thanks for being patient with me, here's chapter 7 ^~^

While Gin hadn’t told everyone exactly where he was taking them, Shinpachi had a sneaking suspicion he knew where they were going. If Gin’s hint of Shinpachi having to make promises he had no intention of keeping was accurate, that is. It’s not that the Shinsengumi were bad or anything…well, maybe they were…was Gin really saying that Shinpachi might have to promise Kondo a date with his sister? Shinpachi shuddered at the thought of saying those words, even in jest…Shinpachi was so deep in his increasingly negative thoughts that he jumped out of his glasses when someone yelled, “Oi, Umibouzu, you have a job! Something about a giant bull octopus running rampant on the planet of hidden clouds!”

Unsubtly adjusting his glasses, Shinpachi’s eyebrows furrowed, ‘Kagura-chan’s dad…?’

Shinpachi opened his mouth to say something, but Kagura beat him to the punch, “Gin-chan? Did that guy just call for my Pappy?” Gin started sweating and glanced over at _Jijii_. Kagura narrowed her eyes in suspicion and started looking more closely at _Jijii_ in turn. Shinpachi looked ever at _Jijii_ as well and mentally smacked himself; the badly hidden baldness, the moustache, how had not seen it earlier (probably because he wasn’t wearing his usual hat, but that didn’t explain why Kagura hadn’t noticed). Well, Gin’s earlier comment made more sense now. The thought struck that maybe Kagura and Kamui that their dad had been spying (maybe? Shinpachi wasn’t actually sure what Umibouzu was doing here) might not have the friendliest outcome. Kagura-chan would probably accuse her dad, rightly, of being a snooping helicopter parent, while Kamui…Shinpachi wasn’t actually sure what Kamui would do, but it would probably end in someone getting a(nother) arm ripped off…

Since Gin was still floundering around for an answer, Shinpachi was about to come to his defense when, surprisingly, Abuto said, “No, you heard it wrong. That guy said…um…” And that’s when Abuto started floundering, unable to come up with a fake name quick enough. So much for that…Kagura now had her narrow-eyed glare trained on Abuto.

Just then, Gin looked over at Shinpachi and a silent understanding passed between the two. But unfortunately for them, they weren’t really on the same wavelength. Shinpachi, trying to be respectful of Umibouzu, answered Umiouji, Gin, being his usual self, answered Umiojii. Kagura stopped giving Abuto the evil-eye and cast her gaze, with an added raised eyebrow upon Gin and Shinpachi, and asked, “Which is it, uh-huh? Umiouji or Umiojii?”

After a moment of painful silence, Gin said with a strained smile, “Well, Kagura-chan, you see, _Jijii_ is a fisherman. His skills are famed throughout the galaxy that he gained the nicknames Umiouji and Umiojii. _Jiji’s…_ the prince of the seas because of his talent and…he’s been at it for so long that he’s also sometimes called…the old man of the sea?”

There was another moment of tense silence. There was no way Kagura would buy that, would she? Kagura broke into a grin and nodded over at Umibouzu, “Good look on your fishing trip, Umiojii. Bring me some octopus as a souvenir.”

Umibouzu, being the tensest of the three, breathed a sigh of relief and left in the direction of the guy who called him. The rest of the group continued on their way to their mysterious destination.

“So, Kamui-san,” Shinpachi asked, maybe a little too boldly, “what would have done if _Jijii-san_ was your father?”

Kamui looked at Shinpachi with a toothy grin that didn’t meet his eyes, “Megane-kun, don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answers to.”

Shinpachi was taken aback, was Kamui’s memory really gone? Shinpachi asked, a little more cautiously, “Would it really be that bad, Kamui-san?”

Kamui smile softened and he cocked his head to the side, “Not sure. Just the name ‘Umibaldo’ sets my teeth on edge, though, so probably?” and he trotted up to Abuto, who also looked decidedly relieved that Umibouzu hadn’t been found out. Shinpachi watched Kamui’s back, jaw agape, Umibaldo???

After a while, Abuto’s cellphone buzzed. He looked at it and sighed, “Sorry, got to get back to the ship. Apparently, something urgent’s come with our friend Takasugi.” He said, giving Gin a pointed look.

“Tch,” Gin shrugged, “What’s with the look? I’m not Bakasugi’s keeper!”

Abuto sighed again, “Keep the admiral out of trouble.” And he walked off

When Abuto was out of earshot, Gin scoffed, “I bet he doesn’t have any work to do. Jiraiya-kun’s probably off seeing his girlfriend, Judy.”

Kamui barked out a laugh, “I doubt that, Gin-san. He has way too little time for any fun…Though I’m sort of recalling this one lady he had a thing for…”

Kagura joined in too, “Yeah, Gin-chan, I doubt any girl would be into him anyways, uh-huh! He’s always going on about quizzes, the weirdo!” Gin smirked and Shinpachi frowned. How was it so easy for them to make fun of the guy when he wasn’t even there? Shinpachi said nothing, though, it was kinda nice not being the punching bag for once.

As Gin, Kamui, and Kagura were laughing about how unappealing Abuto was, a small group of thugs were passing by. One of the thugs, a short guy with hair that looked like a broom, intentionally bumped into Kamui. Stumbling exaggeratedly, the guy yelled, “Hey red, watch where you’re going! You made me trip!” Kamui bobbed his head in apology, but otherwise ignored the guy. The thug’s eyes bugged and he grabbed Kamui’s shoulder.

Kamui looked at said hand on his shoulder and then up thug, “You think a head-bob is a proper apology?” the rest of the group murmured their disapproval at Kamui’s lackluster apology. Kamui blinked and tilted his head to the side, the thug continued, “And you’ve dirtied my jacket, do you know how much this cost?”

Kamui’s eyes narrowed, “I’m sorry, but you bumped into me. If I were you, I’d consider a head-bob a perfectly acceptable apology for something that was your fault in the first place.” Kamui gave the thug’s jacket a brief glance, and gave the thug a smile that had altogether too many teeth, “And I doubt you paid for that jacket, but if you did, whatever you paid was too much.”

“How did you— you looking for a fight? Hah?!” The thug yelled, a vein pulsing at his temple

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, broom-head.” Gin warned

The thug glared at Gin, “Stay out of this Silver-hair. Unless you want a beating too. And it’s not Mohawk, it’s Yusuke. I’m gonna make this scrawny red-head pay for messing with the Reikai gang!” and he threw a punch at Kamui.

Gin rolled his eyes, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. And Reikai gang? You’ve got to be kidding me, what kind of name is that? What do you do, terrorize ghosts?” As Yusuke’s punch was about to connect with Kamui’s jaw, Kamui grinned and as his hand shot out and he grabbed Yusuke’s wrist. Yusuke looked up at Kamui in terror, giving a silent plea for mercy, but Kamui’s grin only widened, his grip on Yusuke’s wrist tightening.

A snap was followed by a howl of agony as Yusuke curled into a ball on the ground, clutching his wrist. The rest of the Reikai gang watched in horror as their leader writhed in pain on the ground. One bold gang member let out a yell and charged at Kamui, the rest following soon after. It was a short fight, with Kamui single-handedly beating the thugs. Kagura had looked like she wanted to step in, but it was over before she could

One of the thugs was left, looking on in horror in a sea of his fallen comrades. This last thug panicked and turned to run, but Kamui was on him in an instant. The man begged for mercy, but was met only with Kamui’s blood-splattered face, a too-wide smile that threatened to split Kamui’s face in two. Kamui raised his fist and the thug screamed one last time and fainted from shock.

Before Kamui’s fist could connect with the unconscious thug, someone grabbed it. Kamui blinked and looked up to see Gin, his dead-fish eyes piercing through the fight fueled fog. “Enough,” Gin said making Kamui blink again, “We’ve got to get going. If we don’t get there soon, we’ll miss lunch.” Kamui’s stomach growled loudly at the thought of lunch, the unconscious thug completely forgotten. Once Kamui’s back was turned, Gin took a look around the scene of the fight. He was amazed that not one of the idiot thugs was dead.

‘Maybe the memory loss made him hold back?’ Gin thought looking at Kamui, a goofy grin on his face as he and Kagura discussed the fight and lunch possibilities. Gin then felt his own stomach rumble, time to go torture a Mayo-freak.

* * *

Hijikata Toshiro exited the Shinsengumi and lit a cigarette. He sighed, of course, Sougo chose today of all days to go after him for smoking again in the building and he was forced outside or his mayonnaise stash would mysteriously vanish. Hijikata only acquiesced to Sougo’s demands because he really need a smoke; he had a bad feeling ever since hearing about the wide spread power outages from Kondo-san. He wasn’t sure why, but Hijikata was sure that today wasn’t going to be his lucky day.

And he was right. To Hijikata’s immense bad fortune, the second he lit his cigarette, a light rain started. Well at least he was under cover of roof, unlike Yamazaki who was on guard duty outside the entrance gates (and outside of the cover of an adequate overhanging roof). Hijikata snickered as he watched Yamazaki try to use his badminton racquet to take shelter from the rain.

Suddenly Hijikata saw four figures approaching the Shinsengumi building. As they got closer, Hijikata crunched his cigarette in annoyance; it was the sugar-freak, that gorilla-woman’s little brother, Sougo’s rival, and another red-head he didn’t know. Must be related to Sougo’s rival, judging by the hair.

If Hijikata was hoping Yamazaki would be able to stop the four annoyances from entering, his hopes were dashed immediately when the sugar-freak whispered something in Yamazaki’s ear. Yamazaki turned bright red and let them pass with nary a word. Hijikata bit down on his cigarette again, wondering what exactly Yorozuya could offer Yamazaki to make him turn bright red like that.

When the four got within earshot, Hijikata yelled, “What’d you offer Yamazaki?”

Gin gave Hijikata a toothy grin, “Oh…Just a date with a certain green-haired robot and some Anpan?”

Hijikata growled, “Yorozuya, Yamazaki is a pushover, but if you think I’m going to let you in…”

Gin’s face twisted into a scowl. It disappeared in a flash when he said, addressing someone just out of Hijikata’s sight “Oh, Souichiro-kun, is that you? Oogushi-kun here says he isn’t going to let us in. Wanna help me out?”

Hijikata turned to see Okita Sougo leaning against the door frame. After chewing his gum and blowing a lazy bubble, Sougo said “It’s Sougo. Ah, Danna, what are you doing here? I’d find Kondo-san for you, but what will I get in return?”

“Well, you see,” Gin started, fake tears streaming down his face, “this evil organization is after us. They’ve driven us out of house and home by shutting off our power. We would stay with someone else, but we don’t want them to go through the same thing…Then I thought of the Shinsengumi. Always looking out for the little guy, the Shinsengumi.”

Hijikata scoffed, there was no way the prince of sadism would listen to this “sob story”. Really, what kind of ‘evil organization’ uses power outages as part of their evil plans? He turned to Sougo, and thought the gleam in his eye was directed at the four idiots in front of them. Sougo’s answer, though, shocked Hijikata, “Sure, Danna, I’ll go find Kondo-san for you.” And he turned and left.

Hijikata turned to Gin and glared, “And I am going to dissuade Kondo-san from letting you step one foot in here. We have enough work without you guys!” And he stalked after Sougo, lighting three cigarettes at the same time (one, apparently no longer being enough).

As soon as Hijikata was out of sight Gin turned to Shinpachi. “You know what to do now right Pattsuan?”, Gin said, his tone serious, putting a reassuring hand on Shinpachi’s shoulder

Shinpachi pushed his glasses and sighed, “I was afraid of Gin-san. You expect me to offer my sister to Kondo-san, don’t you?”

Gin thumped him on the head, “No, you idiot, I’m telling you to pretend to offer the gorilla a date with your sister. Duh!”

Shinpachi shook his head and was about to protest this shitty plan, when Kamui spoke up, “Please do this Megane-kun. I’m starving and if you can’t get us in, I’ll have to steal food from some poor suckers. You wouldn’t want that now would you?”

“Yeah, Shinpachi,” Kagura added, “Just think about it. These tax thieves must have great food, uh-huh. We’ll be able to eat like royalty if you help get us in. And, I’m sure Anego wouldn’t mind, uh-huh. If we stay here, we wouldn’t be crowding her house. It’s a win-win, uh-huh!”

Shinpachi really wanted to object. But he couldn’t, looking at the pleading stares of Kagura and Kamui. Gin-san was still looking at him with that serious look.

Shinpachi sighed, and was about to agree when the three Shinsengumi members returned. Shinpachi’s three ‘friends’ were still looking at him expectantly. So Shinpachi nodded slightly, and the three gave small, grateful smiles in return. Shinpachi then turned to Kondo, a fake smile adorning his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kagura knows doesn't she ;)
> 
> That's the end of chapter 7 and the introduction of the Reikai Gang. Please forgive me for giving Yusuke Hiei's hair, I just really like the insult "Broom-head" ^-^
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you next chapter (hopefully it won't be several months until the next update)
> 
> As always, kudos and comments are always appreciated. If you want, you can come yell at me on Twitter @MurayamaTsuru  
> Until next time!


	8. Sougo Loves to Rile People Up, Doesn't He?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there Christmas (season) is over so it's time I get beck to this silly thing ^~^  
> Hope you enjoy chapter 8!

As Hijikata, Kondo, and Okita made the return trip to where the Yorozuya trio plus one were waiting, Hijikata sighed in irritation as he went over the last few minutes. He and Sougo had gone to Kondo to argue whether or not the four idiots could stay. Hijikata, of course, argued heatedly that they should be turned away seeing as one of them was a lazy leech who would do nothing but get in the way. Hijikata had nothing against the two kids (although the fourth person was a real mystery, personality-wise), but that sugar-freak was a bad influence on everyone around him. Sougo, surprisingly, had argued just as passionately, to let the four stay. It took only a glance at the sadistic glint in Sougo’s eyes and the small smirk to tell Hijikata that Sougo had bad intentions (as per usual).

In the end Kondo decided it would be best to see what the Yorozuya trio had to say for themselves rather than listen to two of his favorite people argue. Hijikata sighed, he know how this would end. The four nuisances would staying and Hijikata would be stuck babysitting…not that he wouldn’t fight like hell to try and prevent this outcome, but still…

When the three neared the entrance Hijikata saw the sugar-freak’s hands on glasses-boy’s shoulders looking serious. Hijikata’s eyes narrowed to a glare as he saw glasses boy nod toward an expectant looking Gin. By the time Kondo stopped, Shinpachi was looking at them, giving them the fakest looking smile Hijikata had ever seen.

Kondo didn’t seem to notice how strained Shinpachi’s smile was as he said, “So, Yorozuya, I hear from Toshi and Sougo you need a place to stay while the power’s out in your neighborhood?”

Gin nodded, “Yup, that’s right. An evil organization is after us because we’re harboring someone they don’t like. We were hoping you’d let us stay because it’s your duty to serve or something, right?”

‘Tch, it’s protect and serve, dumbass.’ Hijikata thought snidely, ‘I’m sure you’d like it if we waited on you hand and foot, wouldn’t you, ya mooch?’

Kondo, oblivious to Hijikata’s thoughts, laughed heartily, “I see Yorozuya, that does sound like a good reason, to me. I would love to let you stay, but, Toshi seems to have some doubts…”

“I thought that might be the case,” Gin said with a knowing smile, “So, I turn you over to our spokesperson, Shinpachi.” Gin then stepped back in order for Shinpachi to have center stage.

Shinpachi seemed hesitant to start and Hijikata had a bad feeling he knew how Shinpachi was going to convince Kondo to let them stay. Shinpachi then took a deep breath and said, “Kondo-san, if you let us stay…I can…talk to Aneue for you…”

As Shinpachi said this, his eyes slipped away from Kondo’s face to a spot just over his shoulder. Hijikata noticed this but before he could comment on how shady this whole situation was, he could practically see the hearts dancing in Kondo’s eyes…that was it, then. The four were definitely staying now. Kondo said enthusiastically, “You mean it Shinpachi-kun? You’ll tell her what a great guy I am?”

Shinpachi nodded, and Kondo turned to Hijikata, “Toshi, we have to let them stay, now! If we don’t I’ll never get a chance like this again! Please…!”

Hijikata gave Kondo-san a disparaging look, but it was no good. Kondo seemed to lose all sense when it came to Shimura Tae. Well, there was nothing to do now but give in (knowing he’d be consoling Kondo after the forthcoming rejection). Hijikata sighed and gave Kondo a less than enthusiastic nod. Kondo then flashed Hijikata a huge grin (Hijikata’s felt his scowl deepen, he could really use a cigarette about now), and told Shinpachi to tell him he could stay.

As Kondo and Gin talked about sleeping arrangements, Hijikata shook his head. These four would be nothing but trouble. For all of Kondo-san’s kindness, he would get nothing from his beloved Otae and end up crying to Hijikata about it for months. Hijikata looked over to Sougo to see his reaction. He wasn’t surprised to see a small, satisfied smirk on his lips. Sougo may have some respect for Kondo, but when it came right down to it, Hijikata knew that Sougo’s sadistic nature would always win out. He sighed again, it was going to be a long few days.

As they all went inside, Gin gave a small, relieved sigh. He was glad this gamble had paid off. Now they had a place to stay that the NCIS couldn’t touch (probably). ‘It they do manage,” Gin thought, ‘it might be time for more drastic measures. All this running around is way too much effort.’

As Gin was about to enter his room, he felt a murderous glare behind him. He turned around to see Hijikata watching him. Gin smiled at him beatifically, “Is something wrong, Oogushi-kun?”

“If you guys get in our way _at all_ , I will kick you out myself, Kondo-san be damned. And don’t think I don’t know that I don’t know your glasses brat has not intentions of talking to his sister for Kondo-san.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Oogushi-kun.” Gin said, smile still in place, “That’s something you need to talk to Shinpachi about.” Hijikata glared at Gin one more time, but turned and stomped off in the opposite direction. Guess he’d finally had enough…well, there would always be time later.

* * *

Contrary to Hijikata’s expectations of the Yorozuya trio plus Kamui, they mostly stayed out of the way. Not only that, but they also helped out, if necessary. Gin actually seemed to be trying his best not to piss off his hosts (well, a certain mayonnaise-loving one, at least), as he hadn’t come up with a backup plan yet. Even Kagura was on her best behavior, making sure she to ignore all Sougo’s taunts.

As all good things come to an end, so did the Yorozuya’s calm-ish time at the Shinsengumi. On the fourth day, during dinner, as Kagura was going down the line for thirds, Sougo decided he had had enough of Kagura ignoring him. As she came exited the line tray piled high with food (the cook seemed to have a soft spot for her), Sougo said, “Oi, China, seems someone’s eating a lot. I thought girls liked to watch their weight. Maybe that means you’re not much of a girl?”

Kagura’s eye twitched, as she said, “Well, dumbass, I happen to have a healthy appetite for a Yato, uh-huh. Worried I’ll take all your food?”

Kagura turned to walk away and Sougo scowled, well that was boring. Sougo looked pensive for a moment, his scowl turning into a grin as he thought of something that was sure to get a rise out of Kagura, “At least my breath doesn’t stink like yours. If you ever want someone to like you, you’ll need to stop sucking on all that Sukonbu.”

At that, Kagura set her tray down slowly (after all, the food was innocent). She then turned to Sougo, seething, and growled, “Don’t dis the Sukonbu, sadist prince, uh-huh! You may think it smells bad, but it keeps my hair shiny.” By now everyone in the room had either vacated the cafeteria or had moved to the furthest corners of the room to give the two rivals plenty of space.

After a few seconds of intense staring between the two, Kagura began running at Sougo. Before she could get within punching distance, Kamui walked between them, stopping Kagura in her tracks. He was carrying an overflowing tray of food, fourths for Kamui (the cook was too scared of Kamui to say no to him). Upon feeling Kagura’s infuriated glare and Sougo’s icily cool one, Kamui looked up, smiling, “Am I interrupting something?” he asked innocently.

Kagura’s fury seemed to dissipate at that, and she retrieved her tray of thirds and walked away. Kamui turned toward Sougo, eyes narrowed maliciously, “If you ever insult my sister again, I’m gonna do more than just act like comic relief.”

Kamui walked passed Sougo to go sit with Kagura, leaving Sougo to look after the two in what might be considered shock. After a second, Sougo blinked and sighed, so much for that…

As the Yato siblings were finishing their meals, Hijikata came up to Gin and whispered, “It’s a good thing he stepped in, I’m not sure I was looking forward to that bloodbath…”

“Indeed,” Gin nodded, “It’s bad form to insult a girl’s weight. I think I might have stepped in if Souichiro-kun had gone any further.” It was a rare moment that both Hijikata and Gin could agree with each other on anything. They looked at each other and let out a nervous chuckle at the thought of trying to stop a fight between Kagura and Sougo.

* * *

Later that night, as Kagura and Kamui were getting ready for bed, Kagura asked quietly, “Aniki, you interrupted my fight with the sadist prince on purpose didn’t you, uh-huh?”

Kamui's eyebrows furrowed and, after a long moment, said, “Was that wrong?”

With a light frown, Kagura thought about that for a moment, “No…not wrong. But next time, you should join me!”

Kamui laughed at this, “You’re right, next time I’ll do that.” Kamui could feel Kagura’s smile as he said this. The two then lapsed into comfortable silence.

When Kamui thought Kagura was asleep, he turned to her and whispered, “Kagura, I know this might sound insincere coming from me as I am now, but I think I owe you an apology. From what I can tell from the flashes I have, I’ve done some awful things to you. I think…I regret a lot of the things. When I get my memory back, I probably won’t admit any of this…But, I have a feeling I miss you a lot when I’m on that ship. Abuto may be a good diversion, but it’s just not the same without you…I think...”

Kamui sighed and rolled over and fell asleep. Upon hearing Kamui’s light snoring, Kagura sat up and looked over at her brother. A single tear sliding down her cheek, “Aniki…” she whispered sadly, “I didn’t know you felt this way.”

Kagura laid back down on her Futon. As she drifted off to sleep, she murmured, “I missed you too, Nii-chan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's that! I hope you enjoyed it! It's a little on the shorter side, and I'm not sure it turned out all that well. I think Sougo is pretty OOC...I don't really want to change the original story all that much so here we are...¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> (I'm bettin' I didn't like this chapter that much when I first wrote it either...)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Wear your masks, stay safe, and I'll see you next time!
> 
> As always, kudos and comments are always appreciated. If you want, you can come yell at me on Twitter @MurayamaTsuru  
> Until next time!


	9. Never Trust a Snake...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Hey, sorry for the break...  
> I started playing Tales of Vesperia and got distracted somewhere along the way...  
> Anyways, here's chapter 9! Hope you enjoy ^~^

_The world was burning around them again. This time, however, it was not accompanied by Shinsuke's laughter, but rather by a glare leveled menacingly at Kamui. Kamui opened his mouth to ask why, when Shinsuke growled, "How dare you betray me like that!"_

_Kamui's eyebrow arched in what he thought was confusion. But when he spoke, different words bubbled from his mouth of their own accord, "Wasn't much of a betrayal, really. Teaming up with you got boring. Seems you didn't really need my help with this, though, did you?"_

_Shinsuke's glare intensified as he snarled, "Since you seem to think so little of my ambitions, you leave me no choice but to punish you."_

_Kamui's eyes narrowed in suspicion, but all words died as the scene shifted. Kagura was suddenly in between him and Shinsuke, his sword speared through her like she was the last piece of kushi dango. Kamui's eyes widened in horror as he saw the life drain out of his sister's eyes._

_"I missed you Nii-chan." She whispered with her last breath. Kamui wrenched his eyes away from his sister's lifeless blue eyes to Shinsuke, who was busy wiping his sister's blood off his sword. A single tear streaked down his face as a wordless scream erupted from his throat._

* * *

Kamui jolted upright, a curse on his lips and sweat pouring off his body. He panicked for a second, the remnants of his nightmare still clinging to his bones. He turned over and heaved a sigh of relief that Kagura was still there, sound asleep and snoring away.

Kamui flopped onto his stomach, pressing his face into his pillow to keep from screaming. Well...no sleeping in for him this morning...With a sigh, Kamui got up, and left his room. With any luck, Gintoki-san would also be up and they could commiserate on this grey morning.

As Kamui wandered the halls of the Shinsengumi complex, it became apparent that he might be the only person awake at this time. It was odd, Kamui thought, to not see the Shinsengumi scurrying around like they usually did.

Kamui eventually came upon a light on in one of the common rooms. Considering that he hadn't seen anyone else around, he decided to check out who was up. He entered the room and his nosed was assaulted by a strange mix cigarette smoke, coffee, and mayonnaise. Judging from the smell, this could only be the person Gintoki-san called "Mayo-freak" or "Oogushi-kun". His name might have been something like Higashikata, but Kamui wasn't thinking about it that deeply. Kamui's eyes then landed on what appeared to be a cup of coffee with an enormous blob of mayonnaise on it. His nose wrinkled of its own accord, 'So that's what that god-awful smell is...'

"Oogushi-kun's" back was turned to Kamui, as he smoked and watched the television. It was then that a small smile appeared on Kamui's face as an entertaining idea popped into his head. He then walked up to Hijikata quietly and tapped him on the shoulder, saying in a pretty good imitation of Gin's voice, "Oi, Oi Oogushi-kun. What you doing slacking off so early in the morning? I thought you'd be out on patrol by now."

At the sound of 'Gin's' voice, Hijikata's cigarette stilled on its path to his mouth; Hijikata then whipped around, snarling, "I'm not slacking off! I happen to be on assignment right now! I ought to have you kicked out for interrupting me you sugar…" Hijikata trailed off when he was it was not Gin he was yelling at, but a grinning Kamui.

After a moment of strained silence on Hijikata's part (Kamui was still grinning like an idiot, seemingly oblivious to Hijikata's discomfort), Hijikata gave a sheepish cough, "Oh…I see you're not Yorozuya. That was a...good impression of him. A little...too good. Maybe you shouldn't spend so much time with that idiot..."

Kamui chuckled and, entertainment quota met for the moment, sat down next to Hijikata. Once Hijikata realized that Kamui was done torturing him with that uncanny imitation, he turned back to the TV. The picture on screen zoomed out to an aerial view of Edo. Normally there would be lights throughout the town even early in the morning, but this morning had the city plunged mostly in darkness. After a few seconds, a news anchor's voice accompanied the image, "As you can see, the widespread power outages that started a few days ago are still ongoing. According to our local power company, the Neo Creative Invention Service, malfunctions to the main grid have sent much of the city into darkness. Now, we go to Ketsuno Ana with an interview with the CEO of the NCIS."

Upon hearing this, that pesky guilty feeling at being the cause of Edo's power problems began to resurface. He knew that the NCIS was just trying to smoke him and the Yorozuya trio out (it did seem a little silly to be hiding out like this, a part of Kamui thought, wouldn't settling this out in the open be so much faster). Lost in his own thoughts, Kamui hardly noticed Ketsuno Ana's interview with the suspiciously hooded CEO of the NCIS.

At the end of the program, Hijikata clicked his tongue in annoyance, making Kamui start guiltily. With an irritated sigh, Hijikata said, "That NCIS has really gone downhill ever since that new CEO came in..." Hijikata sighed again, muttering to himself how the company had become overrun by Amanto and that there wasn't a damn thing the Shinsengumi could do about it.

Felling uncomfortable with his spiraling guilt, Kamui decided maybe a change of topic would be good. Before he could say anything, Hijikata turned to him, a slightly apologetic look on his face, "Hey…This might sound a little weird coming from me, but I want to apologize for Sougo's behavior yesterday. You see, he and your sister have had this weird rivalry ever since they couldn't finish a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. And, seeing as Sougo's the prince of sadism, I'm not sure he can help himself. Still though, he was out of line and...I'm sorry."

Kamui scratched his head, not completely sure what to say. Hijikata probably wouldn't be too pleased to know about Kamui's vague threats he'd given the sadist boy in response yesterday, but before he could say anything, a panting Yamazaki burst into the room. After he caught his breath, he looked at Hijikata, "Fukucho, there are two suspicious individuals lurking near the electrical room. It seems they are trying to…"

"Yamazaki," Hijikata cut in, with a mildly annoyed expression, "Why exactly are you here telling me this instead of apprehending them?"

Yamazaki blanched, spluttering frantically, "F-Fukucho, I a-actually woke up Gintoki-Danna first. H-he should be nearing t-the electrical r-room as we speak. I-I'm sure he can handle two hooligans...I just thought I should come let you know, too...!"

Hijikata gave Yamazaki a withering look, stood up, snatched the badminton racket from Yamazaki's hands, and proceeded to beat him with it. With an alarmed yelp, Yamazaki fled as fast as he could down the hall, an angry Hijikata close behind.

Kamui stood himself, laughing at the two until they were out of sight. He then turned and walked the other way in the direction he vaguely remembered the electrical room was. After a few minutes, Kamui knew he had arrived when he saw Gintoki-san's familiar mop of silver hair pop into view. As Kamui caught up to Gin, he glanced over at Kamui and shook his head ever so slightly to stop Kamui from closer.

Kamui, ignoring the warning, trotted up to Gin to Kamui peer over his shoulder to get a look at the two said hooligans. One of the Amanto looked rather snakelike while the other looked curiously like a weasel. The two were arguing with each other about...something (it was hard to tell coming in mid-argument), but they seemed to not have sensed Gin's presence. When Kamui took a small step passed Gin, however, they both stiffened and whirled around gaping in wide-eyed horror that they'd been found out. The two then looked at each other briefly and fled in different directions.

Gin gave Kamui a pointed look, "Why'd you have to go and do that? Now we have to chase them down. I really wish you would've…" Gin trailed off, noticing Kamui was gone. Gin sighed as he saw Kamui had running in the direction of the weasel-looking Amanto. Gin sighed and stalked off in the direction of the other one.

* * *

"…You did _what_ exactly, Admiral?" Abuto said, kneading the space between his eyebrows. The migraine that bad been building over the last couple days seemed to have finally reached boiling point. Abuto had finally managed to placate Takasugi Shinsuke (something about Jojolion? What was this inane bullshit?), only to realize that he didn't actually know where Gin had taken everyone else...what fun it had been when Abuto found out they were with the fucking Shinsengumi! What was that silver-haired idiot thinking bringing them directly to the cops? The Harusame Space Pirates could solve their own problems, thank you very much!

As Abuto snuck his was into the Shinsengumi compound (well, as sneaky as a tall, one-armed man using an umbrella when it's sunny out can be, that is) ready to bust Kamui out of there, there was some commotion about two suspicious individuals trying to cut the power. Ah. So the plan to throw the NCIS off their trail hadn't worked after all. Great. After wandering around some more to see what other info he could gather, he ran into Kamui with body slung over his shoulder.

At first glance, Abuto thought Kamui had knocked the Amanto he was pursuing unconscious, upon closer inspection, though, they didn't actually seem to be breathing. Kamui finally noticed Abuto and said, "Ah, Abuto, you're back. Guess you've already heard about the two Amanto, huh?"

Abuto nodded, and Kamui grinned, "Well, hopefully Gintoki-san has more luck with the other Amanto. You see, I accidently killed this one."

"How the hell did you manage that?"

Kamui's Grin diminished a little, seeing how steamed Abuto looked, "Actually, I didn't technically kill him. I was chasing him, and he ran himself to death trying to get away. As I said, hopefully Gintoki-san had more luck with the snake Amanto."

Abuto groaned and here he had been hoping the memory loss would have made Kamui more responsible. But, no, of course not! Wishful thinking only led Abuto to this disappointing reality...

Normally, Abuto wouldn't be able to get away with this, but with the stress of having to deal with Takasugi's stupid manga related requests and Gin's idiotic idea to hide out at the Shinsengumi, caused his frustration to boil over and Abuto started ranting about how irresponsible Kamui was, killing one of their only suspects.

Abuto was interrupted mid-rant when, suddenly, Gin walked up and said, "His name was Okojo, Jiraiya-kun."

Abuto, feeling extra annoyed, leveled a glare at the Gin, "How do you know that? Did you manage to catch the other Amanto?" Gin returned Abuto's glare with a self-satisfied smirk as he recounted his chase.

* * *

_Gin pushed another disgruntled pedestrian aside as he chased after the snake Amanto, ignoring the curses the person yelled at him as he ran by. The chase had been going on for awhile, but Gin could tell that they were starting to tire. He was too, for that matter, but hopefully he had enough energy to catch his quarry. Eventually, the snake Amanto made a wrong turn into an alley and Gin was finally able to corner them._

_As_ _Gin slowed to a stop, the snake Amanto sank to the ground, shaking violently and whimpering, "K-Kuchinawa isss ssssorry...Massster ordered Kuchinawa to do it..." Gin crouched down himself to get a better look at_ _Kuchinawa_ _, their slit pupils had grown very large making them look more catlike than snakelike. Gin grinned at_ _Kuchinawa_ _extending his hand to them, making them look in surprise at him. Gin helped_ _Kuchinawa_ _up and the two started their walk back to the Shinsengumi._

_As they were walking, Gin looked over at_ _Kuchinaw_ _a_ _, who was walking a few steps behind Gin._ _Kuchinaw_ _a_ _had medium length, messy grey hair tied back in a ponytail, pale white skin that had scales on it like snake skin, their yellow snake eyes were outlined in what looked like black makeup extending halfway down their nose. A memory of a similar looking person tugged at Gintoki's mind, but at this point_ _Kuchinaw_ _a_ _had noticed Gin's staring and was staring back at him quizzicaly. Gin shelved his earlier thoughts and shot_ _Kuchinaw_ _a_ _another grin, "So,_ _Kuchinaw_ _a_ _-chan. Who's your master?"_

_Kuchinawa_ _shuddered, averting their gaze. Gin was about to retract his question when Kuchinawa said in a small voice, "_ _Kuchinawa'_ _sss massster isss the SSSEO of the NCISSS._ _Kuchinawa_ _hasss never ssseen the SSSEO'sss face, but they alwaysss bosssss_ _Kuchinawa_ _around. I'm sssorry about trying to cut the power, Sssakata-sssan."_

_Gin dismissed_ _Kuchinawa'_ _s apology with a wave of his hand, "Don't worry 'bout it,_ _Kuchinawa_ _-chan. Just come back with me and we'll straighten everything out."_ _Kuchinawa_ _nodded but still seemed anxious about returning to the scene of the crime._

* * *

When Gin was done recounting his tale, Abuto looked passed him, "So where is this Kuchinawa, huh?"

Gin squinted at him, "What are you talking about? They're right behind me."

Abuto rolled his eyes, "If they were behind you, you perm-y idiot, I wouldn't have asked."

"I'm no idiot, Jiraiya-kun," Gin said turning around "And I'll have you know, my hair…is…" Gin trailed off as he saw that Kuchinawa was, in fact, not behind him.

"…Shit..." Gin growled as he took off running toward the electrical room, Abuto and Kamui close behind. But the three arrived too late, Kuchinawa had already managed to destroy the power box beyond repair. Kuchinawa then turned toward Gin, gave him an unapologetic look, and then leaped onto the roof and out of the Shinsengumi compound. The three looked on as the power seemed to go out in slow motion. All around them were indignant cries of "What the hell…?!" and "...No! My game! I forgot to save...!"

Gin groaned, Abuto sighed, and Kamui stood there silently looking mildly guilty. they were all thinking the same thing, 'We are in so much trouble for this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is the end of that! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! The OCs finally showed up! Here's an explanation of what their names mean ^~^
> 
> Okojo (おこじょ): means weasel. Originally thought of naming him Itachi. But that seemed a little too on the nose... Okojo, more specifically, means stoat or ermine, while Itachi is the word for Japanese weasels.
> 
> Kuchinawa(蛇): means snake. This character's name was originally Jari (じゃり , meaning gravel) and that didn't make a whole lot of sense (for reasons I'll go into later) so I changed it. And that's all I'm going to say about Kuchinawa right now ;)
> 
> As always, kudos and comments are always appreciated. If you want, you can come yell at me on Twitter @MurayamaTsuru  
> Until next time!


End file.
